Metro Manila, Philippines – Almost but not quite.
De La Salle University Green Achers head coach Topex Robinson said he will live with Vhoris Marasigan missing the possible game-winning shot against the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball finals on Sunday, Dec. 14, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“We have rule number one in our team and that’s use your best judgment,” the Green Archers mentor said. “We’re always going to stick to what we’ve agreed upon as matured individuals here and that shot could have brought the house down,” he added.
With the Fighting Maroons precariously holding on to a two-point edge in the dying seconds of the tight contest, Marasigan pulled up from beyond the arc to steal the victory for La Salle.
But his three-point attempt rattled out of the rim as UP forced a winner-take-all match.
“As long as those shots are the shots that Vhoris was practicing, we’re going to be okay with that,” the tactician said after their 66-63 loss.
Marasigan finished with eight points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field along with six rebounds for the Green Archers.
Robinson remained confident with his players and admitted that committing errors are part of the game.
“We always say, players win games for us and they will also lose games for us. That’s not going to change even if this is Game 2 of the finals. Yes, we’re going to make mistakes,” he said.
Robinson commended the Fighting Maroons for refusing to go down and showed composure to extend the championship series.
“The experience of UP showed up earlier. Those guys really played their guts out. We have to really give credit to them and they really poured out everything that they got,” he said.
Game 3 is on Dec. 17 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
