Despite incurring their 27th straight loss, the UE Red Warriors continue to believe they can seize their first victory in the UAAP Season 89 Men’s Basketball Tournament through their rising star in Topher Lagat.
Following a 91-81 loss against the UP Fighting Maroons on Saturday to close out the first round, Lagat vows to continue his crescendo of production entering the latter half of the season.
“Gusto ko lang gawin ‘yung best ko para manalo ‘yung team,” Lagat, who scored a game-high 26 points and issued 5 assists, said postgame. “Offensively, maraming chances na we could’ve turned it into opportunity, na naging turnover,” he added.
The Red Warriors were looking towards a possible upset after a nip-and-tuck affair throughout the fourth quarter, but all hopes were drained after their explosive guard fouled out in the game’s dying minutes.
Lagat Wants UE to Believe It Can Compete
With the Red Warriors experiencing back-to-back late comebacks that came up short, Lagat continues to lean on his team’s offensive production in the fast break, hoping it can eventually translate into a win.
“’Yung gumagana talaga samin is running talaga, we’re a running team… It’s where we get our points from,” the reigning scoring leader explained.
With the Recto-based squad looking poised for a better showing in Round 2, Lagat calls for more effort from UE as he continues to believe in the team’s capabilities to compete with the rest of the league.
“Talagang nagtiwala lang kami sa isa’t isa. Maraming nagsasabi na we can’t compete, so we just tried our best na kaya namin to compete against a great team,” Lagat said.
The Red Warriors will be back in action on Wednesday when they take on the La Salle Green Archers at the SM Mall of Asia to open the second round.
