Francis Lopez and the UP Fighting Maroons celebrate after defeating the La Salle Green Archers in Game 3 of the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Finals. –Marlo Cueto/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Francis Lopez followed through on his words, making up for a costly mistake in Game 2 with a clutch triple to help the University of the Philippines regain the title in the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Tournament.
After La Salle cut the lead to one point with 90 seconds left, Lopez was left wide open at the top of the key looking for a chance to recover and pounced on it with three daggers to give UP a 64-60 decision. This led to a significant lead. Last 1 minute and 12 seconds mark.
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In Game 3, it was an inch game, and Lopez’s 3 was the decisive blow as time expired, forcing La Salle to scramble for the basket.
READ: UP defeats La Salle in Game 3 to reclaim UAAP men’s basketball title
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“As soon as possible [Harold Alarcon] The ball was passed to me and I thought, shoot this, shoot this, and it went in. It was a really surreal moment, but the game wasn’t over yet, so I decided to stay calm,” said Lopez, who scored 12 points and 11 points despite committing nine turnovers. He had a rebound and six assists.
UP held on for a 66-62 victory in front of a record crowd of 25,248, dethroning last season’s tormentors.
“After the buzzer rang. It all fell into place. All the hard work and all the support, especially from the UP community and my family. I would like to thank the men mentioned above. We made this work I am really happy because I worked hard for it.”
Lopez faced backlash on social media for his blunder late in the second race. In Game 2, he missed four consecutive free throws and committed a pass turnover, allowing La Salle to escape with a 76-75 victory and score the game-winning point.
Francis Lopez and the UP Fighting Maroons celebrate after defeating the La Salle Green Archers in Game 3 of the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball Finals. –Marlo Cueto/INQUIRER.net
The high-flying sophomore made no excuses and remained focused despite the crucial mistake, with coach Goldwyn Monteverde saying the team continues to have faith in Lopez.
Read: UAAP Finals: Francis Lopez makes no excuses for late blunder
And in Game 3, López shook off all doubts and repaid the team’s faith with a heroic performance.
“Like I said, I don’t care what they say and I’m not here to please anyone from the outside.The fact of the matter is, they’re fucked, come on. To be honest, I haven’t contributed much,” Lopez said frankly. “What I care about is the team and what’s inside us. And I’m really happy to get this win. We can finally officially say we’re champions.”
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“They still believed in me. Even after that loss we were able to talk to each other and it was a really surreal moment. They continued to believe in me and I’m really happy that even though I had that loss, they were still there for me. I was able to overcome it this time,” Lopez said.
