Romwel Anzures

De La Salle University head coach Topex Robinson against the University of the Philippines (UP) in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball Finals. Photo from UAAP Media.

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<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733674988562UAAP87 MBB - Coach Topex Robinson-3905.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="De La Salle University head coach Topex Robinson against the University of the Philippines (UP) in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball Finals. Photo from UAAP Media."/>De La Salle University head coach Topex Robinson against the University of the Philippines (UP) in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball Finals. Photo from UAAP Media.MANILA — De La Salle University head coach Topex Robinson had no excuses in their UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball Finals Game 1 defeat on Sunday.</div>The Green Archers’ title defense in the championship stage got off to an unwanted start as the Taft-based cagers lost momentum in the second half and eventually fell to the University of the Philippines (UP) through a 73-65 loss at the Araneta Coliseum.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2024/12/8/up-weathers-early-quiambao-onslaught-stuns-la-salle-for-1-0-lead-2000">READ: UP weathers early Quiambao onslaught, stuns La Salle for 1-0 lead</a></div>“They played well. It is what it is,” said the one-time league titlist after the contest wherein they fired blanks in the last 20 minutes of action, particularly in the third canto wherein they only posted nine markers while shooting 4-of-15 (26.7%) from the field.Playing a factor in this was his superstar Kevin Quiambao, who, after firing an admirable 18 markers in the first half, only tallied a lone free throw in the next while also missing all of his six shots in that span.This, said Coach Topex, was a simple result of the laudable efforts of their Diliman-based counterparts.“They did a lot of good things defensively as well as a team,” he pointed out, pertaining to how they went cold with an 11-of-36 shooting in the last half. “So again, we just need to get back in Game 2. They did a great job defensively and stopping KQ, and we weren&#x27;t able to make adjustments down the line.”Coach Topex also refused to jump to conclusions even with some of the factors that might have haunted them in Game 1.First, <a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2024/12/8/did-the-quiambao-to-kbl-news-affect-la-salle-in-game-1-2202" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Quiambao’s reported move to Korea following the end of the series</a>, and second, Quentin Millora-Brown’s towering 17-point, nine-rebound performance against their frontline.“They wanted it more than us,” said Robinson. “But the good thing about the team in the dugout: Nobody was blaming nobody. We&#x27;ve gone this far because of how we really became a united front, and we will not let any negativity get in our way.”“I also don&#x27;t wanna say anything because I haven&#x27;t seen the game yet. There are a lot of plays that I have to watch first to figure it out. Sabi ko nga, they came in prepared, QMB was spectacular earlier that&#x27;s why he was there, they got him there because of that.”Robinson, meanwhile, is not also leaning on the fact that they managed to bring home the Season 86 title despite losing last year’s series opener via a blow-out against UP.“We don&#x27;t look back at the past, that&#x27;s done it over with,” he emphasized. “We just need to make sure if we thought of that, then of course, UP has thought of that as well. The players are different. Now, we have a younger team, the team that played last season is gone and has moved forward.”“So sa amin, we just have to slug it out, yun lang naman masasabi namin. We just have to make sure we will give ourselves a chance to win,” he added.<div>Instead, Robinson is banking on how they managed to remain competitive until the final buzzer despite most of his players -- aside from Mike Phillips -- going cold in the second half. <img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733675100660UAAP87 MBB - DLSU-4013.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="De La Salle University against the University of the Philippines (UP) in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball Finals. Photo from UAAP Media."/>De La Salle University against the University of the Philippines (UP) in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball Finals. Photo from UAAP Media.“We just have to learn and watch the game. Sabi ko nga: As bad as it was, we gave ourselves a chance to win, and that&#x27;s what&#x27;s important. We were down in the latter part of the game, but we figured a way to recover, and give ourselves a chance to win,” he pointed out.</div>“The only thing I told the team was: There&#x27;s a reason why this is a series. You don&#x27;t win a championship by winning one game, you need two games. We still have a chance, and we just have to keep on being positive and try to learn from this experience.”“As long as we always do it right, we play right and honor this game that we love, that has always been good to us. We will not be defined by losing a game. What is important to us is we stick to what we live for, we take care of each other, we protect each other — that’s the most important thing,” he added.<div>Game 2 of the best-of-3 series is on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6CjJAVZtaYk??si=glEkcmD6FyvO516B&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></div>

De La Salle University head coach Topex Robinson had no excuses in their UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball Finals Game 1 defeat on Sunday.

De La Salle University head coach Topex Robinson had no excuses in their UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball Finals Game 1 defeat on Sunday.

UAAP Finals: How will La Salle respond after falling behind 0-1 to UP once again?

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UAAP Finals: How will La Salle respond after falling behind 0-1 to UP once again?

Rom Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 09, 2024 07:00 AM PHT

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Updated December 09, 2024 04:31 PM PHT

Read More:

Basketball

ABSSports

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UAAP Season 87

UAAP Basketball

UAAP

La Salle

Topex Robinson

Kevin QUiambao

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