00:00The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons just need one more win to return the championship to the UAA Team Men's Basketball.
00:09That's after they beat the defending champion, De La Salle Green Archers in Game 1 of the Season 87 Finals last night in Araneta Coliseum.
00:18Let's go back to the action of teammate Rafael Bandairel.
00:23The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons just need one more win to return the championship to the UAA Team Men's Basketball.
00:35The game was close in the halftime, but the wind changed in the third quarter.
00:42UP outscored La Salle 17 to 9 points to get the momentum and the lead.
00:48In the last quarter, DLSU took the heart of the champion when they were able to lower the lead by 4 points in the last 1 minute and 42 seconds of the game.
00:58But the hot offense of the Maroons continued in the lead of their one and done star, Quentin Miliora Brown.
01:07The final score, 73 to 65.
01:10Miliora Brown finished with a career-high 17 points with 9 rebounds and 3 assists.
01:17We're in the finals and this is all that work that we put in, in the first two rounds and the final four.
01:22You know, it's leading up to this moment.
01:24So, you know, this is the biggest stage for us as a team, as individuals, and just giving everything we have is just how we approach it.
01:33Meanwhile, the reigning most valuable player, Kevin Quimbao.
01:39After scoring 18 markers in the first two quarters, KQ was limited with only 1 point in the second half.
01:48UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde greeted rookie Jacob Baila when he took on the responsibility of defending Quimbao.
01:58For a rookie to defend Kevin in the game, showing a lot of heart on his first time to play in the UAP Finals, you know.
02:10For me, it's really amazing on his part that he was able to do that.
02:14Despite the disappointing loss in Game 1, DLSU head coach Topex Robinson is still confident that he can make up for his loss.
02:24The only thing that I told the team is there's a reason that this is a series.
02:28You know, you don't win a championship by just winning one game.
02:32You need to win two games.
02:33So, we still have a chance.
02:35We've been in this situation before.
02:37We just have to keep on being positive.
02:42On Wednesday, we'll find out if Fighting Maroons will be able to win their first title since 2022
02:50or if the Green Archers will be able to force a winner-take-all Game 3.
02:55Rafael Bandayrel for Pambansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.
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