UNIVERSITY of the Philippines made it a point after Game 2 of the UAAP Season 85 men's basketball finals on Wednesday not to dwell on any specific moment that may have shifted the momentum against them.
Assistant coach Christian Luanzon specificlly called criticism on big man Henry Galinato's missed dunk in the fourth quarter of a 66-56 loss to the Ateneo Blue Eagles as "unfair" to the Maroons big man.
[READ: Why Game 3 of UAAP Finals will be played on a Monday]
"Even if that happened let's say on a last shot, you know, there's so many things in a basketball game that builds up to the result and I think it's unfair to any player to point to just one moment in a game," said Luanzon.
Down 15 in the fourth quarter, UP went on a run to come within nine, 63-54, and had a chance to trim the lead even further as the ball found its way to Galinato, who was open underneath the basket at the final 4:19 mark.
However, when the big attempted to throw down a dunk, he fell short and the ball bounced off the front of the rim as the crowd let out a collective groan.
Luanzon, however, refused to pin any blame on Galinato.
"Obviously, if he made that, that would've been big. I think it would've cut the lead down to seven, momentum slowly building on our side. But you must ask the question also, 'Paano dumating dun sa sitwasyon na ganun?'" asked the former broadcaster.
"Importante ang team ay hindi susuko nang ganoon. Importante ang bangon namin for Monday," rsaid head coach Goldwin Monteverde.
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