Reigning MVP Kevin Quiambao picked up right where he left off with the game winner in La Salle’s UAAP Season 87 opener.
When things get tough for DLSU, leave it up to Kevin Quiambao to get going.
Defending champion La Salle needed a one-of-a-kind performance from the reigning MVP to overcome a spirited challenge from the NU Bulldogs and the Green Archers got one as they started their title defense in UAAP Season 87 with a cardiac win, 78-75, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, September 8.
[Related: MVP Kevin Quiambao drills game-winner as La Salle opens UAAP title defense with win over NU]
Being the team with the biggest target on their backs, the Taft-based cagers were immediately tested as the Bulldogs not only went toe-to-toe with them all game long, but the Archers also found themselves trailing late in the ball game.
Though fancied to take the victory over last year’s third placers, La Salle was behind by as manyas seven points, 64-71, in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs rode big games from Jake Figueroa and PJ Palacielo.
But Quiambao, armed with five minutes left on the game clock, was not one to be outshone. After seeing the Green Archers struggle all night, he decided that enough was enough.
Quiambao went on a frenzy to spark a scorching 11-2 run that flipped the script on NU, capping off the scoring burst with an and-one conversion as La Salle seized the 75-73 lead with 1:35 left in the game.
“I think, first of all, di nagki-click yung kung ano yung gusto namin itakbo buong game. And then, ayun nga, pinoint-out ko lang sa sarili ko na kailangan kong [maging] take over mode na,” said Quiambao, who finished with a game-high 22 points.
“Kailangan kumuha kami ng guy yung may masasandalan sila. So, ang ginawa ko lang is, naging glue guy lang ako, nag-lead by example ako.”
But Quiambao’s biggest play of the night came a little later in the contest, hitting the game winner that broke the 75-all deadlock with 9.8 seconds remaining.
Though Quiambao is definitely the biggest star on coach Topex Robinson’s team, the 23-year-old said that there wasn’t really a plan to get him the ball for that play.
But armed with their coaches’ trust, the Green Archers were tasked to make their own decisions.
“Doon sa sequence na yun, wala naman instructions [sila coach]. Kumbaga laging ngang sinasabi ni coach, teachers lang sila. Bahala kayo. May freedom kayo gawin kung ano yung gusto niyo,” said Quiambao.
Of course, any decision that ends up with Quiambao having the ball is a good one for the Green Archers.
“That's the beauty of having him. You know, those last few possessions of the game wherein [you know] he's gonna make the right decision,” said Robinson.
“We always tell this in our team, Kevin will win games for us and he will lose games for us,” he added.
Quiambao and the rest of Robinson’s Green Archers test their mettle next against the Adamson Soaring Falcons on Wednesday, September 11, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.