IF winning a championship is already in the hard difficulty, then defending it ramps it up to the next level.
That’s exactly what reigning titlist University of the Philippines relearned on Sunday, as it stumbled out of the gates in its title defense.
READ: Collins Akowe too much to handle in UST statement win against UP
Tripping them was one immovable object in 6-foot-10 Collins Akowe who powered University of Santo Tomas to a convincing 20-point victory at home.
Not only that, the Nigerian foreign student-athlete was an unstoppable force as well, as he had his way against whoever the Fighting Marons threw at him and finished with 29 points, in efficient 9-of-15 shooting from the field, and 17 rebounds.
In the eyes of State U shot-caller Goldwin Monteverde, they didn’t do themselves any favors.
“Actually, alam naman namin yung capability ni Collins. We really prepared for him, but then, as a team, it should never be one versus one,” he lamented in his post-game interview.
“It should be one versus five. We didn’t react well. That’s something we need to learn.”
From the get-go, UP was punched in the mouth and tried its best to counter, but Akowe unloaded haymaker after haymaker.
“This is not the way na gusto namin to start the season. Playing as a team, we need to improve on that,” mulled Monteverde.
Early shock to the system
As they’ve done throughout the golden and winning era they’re presently in, however, the Fighting Maroons know that the only way forward is, well, forward.
“There’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We’ll watch the game, find out which things to work on, and then move on to Adamson,” their brilliant tactician said, referring to another challenge in three days coming from the Soaring Falcons.
“Yung ganitong tough losses will push us to work harder and more together.”
And in the end, Monteverde has no doubt being at the wrong end of a 20-point beatdown in the opener will only make UP better moving forward.
As he put it, “No matter how tough it is, kung kailangan nilang pagdaanan yun, pagdadaanan nila. We all have to realize na ga’no man kahirap, staying together, working together is the way to go.”
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