00:00 Game one goes to the Fighting Maroons. Good evening everybody. This is Naveen Ganglani reporting to you from the Mall of Asia Arena for Rappler.com
00:07 We read you see with this University of the Philippines score a monumental game one win against De La Salle University in the UAAP
00:15 Season 86 men's basketball finals UP won 97 to 67 30 points their largest lead of the game
00:22 It was the most dominant win by a team in game one of the UAAP finals since the final four era
00:28 Of the UAAP. How did they do that? Well UP controlled many areas of the game. They out executed La Salle
00:35 They outplayed La Salle. They had more energy
00:37 They played with more effort from start to finish UP played like the better team and the stat sheet and the final score
00:44 Reflect that fact Harold Alarcon led the way for the Fighting Maroons with 21 points
00:49 Francis Lopez had 15 points and 11 rebounds JD Cagulangan with 11 points
00:54 Jerry Abadiano finished with 10 points Aldous Torculias one of the young standouts of UP
00:59 9 points and 10 rebounds Malik Diuf despite facing foul trouble finished with 9 points and
01:05 15 rebounds overall UP out rebounded La Salle 55 to 45 and forced the Green Archers to 18 turnovers
01:13 Which led to a 24 to 2 points off turnovers advantage for University of the Philippines
01:20 Bench points also went UP's way 41 to 22 points in the paint were even 40 to 40
01:26 But second chance points UP won
01:28 15 to 6 leading the way for DLSU was Michael Phillips with 19 points and 9 rebounds and 7 of 11
01:35 Shooting it was a close affair in the first quarter
01:38 But UP built a double-digit lead going to halftime thanks to a buzzer beating 3 by JD Cagulangan in the early moments of the third
01:45 Quarter Francis Lopez took over with 9 points to extend UP's lead and they did not look back the rest of the way
01:52 What will happen in game 2?
01:54 Well for coach Goldwyn Monteverde of the UP Fighting Maroons
01:58 He wants his team to stay in the present tonight
02:00 They will watch film of the game and look at areas they can even improve on further
02:05 The players know that the job is not done
02:07 They want to finish the series in game 2, but they know that La Salle will come in motivated trying to win the finals
02:14 But first they will have to do that by tying the series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum
02:19 Despite the dispiriting loss the Green Archers feel like they still have a chance
02:23 Evannelli said after the contest that he feels he can play better
02:28 He can avoid foul trouble and he and his teammates can even up the series. That was the same
02:33 Idea that was reflected upon by the Phillips brothers Ben and Mike after the contest saying they still think they have a chance
02:40 They still think they can compete with UP and match them with their intensity, but can they do it?
02:46 Well, the Fighting Maroons have proven that once they get off to an early lead, it could be dangerous for their opponents
02:52 So will La Salle be able to contain them in the next matchup between both teams?
02:56 If UP beats La Salle then UP will end up winning two
02:59 UAAP men's basketball titles in consecutive years
03:03 They won in season 84 against Ateneo and they would win in season 86 against La Salle if they can close out the series
03:09 That means after 36 years without the UAAP men's basketball title
03:13 UP could end up with two championships by beating arguably the two dominant teams of the UAAP Final Four era
03:20 Of course, that's not a certainty just yet. La Salle also is looking for a first UAP men's basketball title since
03:27 2016 it's been a while since the Green Archers have held up that trophy to do that
03:31 They will now have to win two consecutive games against UP. Can they do it?
03:37 It's tough, but anything can happen in the finals and we shall see
03:41 Until Game 2. This is Navin Ganglani reporting to you for Rappler. Thanks for joining us
03:46 (audience laughing)
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