AMID the celebrations for their breakthrough victory vs. Adamson on Saturday, Toper Lagat finally got to check off the first and foremost entry on his to-do list since moving up to University of the East's seniors squad.
And yet, many more things to do remain.
READ: Bonfire or not, a fire has been lit under UE
While rumors and murmurs will keep following one of the UAAP's rising stars in the months to come, at this moment at the very least, Lagat just wants to continue helping build something lasting in Recto.
“Since last year, getting our first win was really our goal,” he told SPIN.ph following their takedown of the Soaring Falcons, their first win in two years.
“Para ’to sa team namin, sa supporters namin, and especially sa UE community. We want to make them proud and bring back the winning culture of UE.”
Through 11 games this season, the 5-foot-11 playmaker has normed 20.64 points, 3.09 rebounds, 1.36 assists, and 1.36 steals, capably and confidently stepping up at the head of the red-and-white attack.
Dawn of a new day
Even better, however, their win against Adamson gave him a glimpse of what the red-and-white could become.
“Seeing my teammates step up, sobrang saya ko lang kasi na-accommodate namin 'yung points. Super happy lang ako kasi we did our best at nakuha namin 'yung first win,” he said.
For a program that had spent so long measuring its struggles one loss at a time, this latest result offered something much more valuable: belief.
Now, that belief has to turn into something sustainable.
With one long-awaited, much-desired goal done and over with, Lagat's full focus is on what comes next for the program he represents right now.
He just helped write a good ending, at long last, for UE.
But the story continues. And he moves forward to trying to make sure this next chapter looks nothing like the last.
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