By LEE BENJAMIN
For the second straight season, the University of the Philippines left the Araneta Coliseum holding the second-biggest trophy in the stadium.
The Fighting Maroons' Game 3 loss to UAAP Season 86 champion La Salle on Wednesday comes nearly a year after their loss to Ateneo in Game 3 of Season 85. Their average margin of defeat in those two do-or-die matches? Just 5.5 points.
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And so, for the second straight season, State U head coach Goldwin Monteverde was left a win short of another title to the championship he and the Maroons won in Season 84 - the year they ended a 36-year championship darkness in Diliman.
In victory or defeat, the voice of this shy, soft-spoken coach can hardly be heard, even in the funereal silence of a room.
"Disappointed. Siyempre, binigay naman namin lahat nang makakaya, pero alam naman natin papaano yung klase ng support, ng pagmamahal ng UP community. Disappointed na 'di namin maibigay sa kanila yung gusto nila ma-achieve," he said.
UP stayed atop the standings for majority of the season and earned the school's first top seed in the Final Four era before easily dispatching fourth seed Ateneo. The Maroons then drew first blood in the best-of-three Finals with a 30-point beatdown of the Green Archers.
Game Two saw La Salle returning the favor with a 22-point rout of its own, but Game Three was a back-and-forth affair that had the Fighting Maroons clinging to a four-point edge, 67-63, with six minutes remaining.
Unfortunately for Diliman, UP would only muster two more points from there, while on the other hand, Season and Finals MVP Kevin Quiambao willed the Green Archers to the come-from-behind championship win.
Of course, it was clear to Monteverde what UP needed to work on, based on that endgame letdown.
"Well, playing together under pressure, having that discipline no matter what ang nangyayari sa game. Sa akin, yun ang nakikita ko," said the Maroons coach.
The good news is that Monteverde actually has one of the youngest lineups in the league, with Malick Diouf and CJ Cansino his only graduating players. And the even better news is that the back-to-back silver finishes are actually a large leap forward for a program that had a 13-113 record from 2007-15.
Monteverde, the son of former San Beda player Remy Monteverde with Regal Films matriarch Mother Lily, had none of that in his mind after the loss.
Monteverde's regret
Instead, his thoughts were on the hordes of supporters from the UP community who he felt were let down.
"The past nights, seeing mga tao falling in line just to get tickets, to support us, to give yung pagmamahal nila sa team, for me as a coach, it's all about being able to give back in our own way," Monteverde said.
"'Yun naman ang ginagawa namin at patuloy naming gagawin."
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