The UAAP Season 86 finals ended with the UP Fighting Maroons ending up as the bridesmaid for the second year in a row.
It was especially painful for Harold Alarcon, who had a chance to make the game-tying basket in the dying seconds of the do-or-die Game 3 against the De La Salle Green Archers.
He missed.
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When all the confetti was finally swept away, Alarcon was able to reframe the loss into something he could build for the future.
"The things which hurt, instruct," he quoted on an Instagram post shared on Monday.
"You’ll never know who you are and what you are until you’ve really been tested," he added, thanking the UP community for their support, along with outgoing players CJ Cansino and Malick Diouf.
He also gave some much-deserved shoutout to La Salle's Kevin Quiambao, who won the season MVP and Finals MVP plums.
"Congrats, brader! Hard work paid off! You’re an inspiration to many," Alarcon wrote.
Quiambao, ever the MVP, was quick to give back the love.
"Labyu pre 😘," he commented.
Now that's a healthy UAAP rivalry we all love to stan!
Alarcon, who was the hero of Game 1, got heavily bashed and became the butt of jokes on social media after playing subpar in Game 3. He got blamed for forcing a tough three-pointer in the closing seconds. He scored 10 points on 11 attempts and had three turnovers.
He stayed mum amid all the noise.
So it's nice to see him now being reflective and being gracious after their difficult defeat. As one of his hashtags said, #FailingForward.
(PM)