The free throw line.
It's that moment in a basketball game when there's no opponent in front of you. No ball screens. It's just you and the net.
And a thousand fans screaming to distract you. And maybe the immeasurable pressure in your head knowing the game is on the line.
In Game 2 of the UAAP Season 87 men's basketball finals, after two-time MVP Kevin Quiambao willed the De La Salle Green Archers back to striking distance and Mike Phillips gave the defending champions a one-point lead, Francis Lopez had the opportunity to give the UP Fighting Maroons the advantage... and possibly seal the series.
Well, two.
With the time stopped at 53 seconds, Lopez was given two free throw chances. He missed.
Twenty nine seconds later, he was fouled by KQ and got two more chances at the charity stripe. UP really needed this to win.
He missed both of those too.
There was a third chance, actually.
With 19 seconds left, Phillips also missed two free throws that would have given La Salle just a bit breathing room. And Lopez got the rebound.
But the ball got away from him, and so did the game.
"We're looking for the open man. I had turnovers and we just couldn't get it to Mai-Mai [JD Cagulangan]," Lopez explained to reporters after the game.
Before that stretch, he was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line in Game 2.
"There’s no excuse, I just missed it. Can’t do nothing about it, move on. We still have a Game 3, another opportunity. We’re gonna be focused on that," Lopez said.
[ALSO READ: Francis Lopez offers no excuse after 4 missed free throws in final minute of Game 2 vs La Salle]
"The whole team was frustrated, no questions about it," UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon shared to One PH's Power & Play. "We felt like we had control of the game until the last three minutes."
"Obviously, credit to La Salle, especially Kevin Quiambao. He just went super human in that game."
Luanzon then shared what happened in the dugout, as coach Goldwin Monteverde addressed his players.
"Coach Gold, he talked to Francis, he talked to Reyland [Torres], the whole team talked to each other, led by captain Gerry Abadiano and co-captain Mai-Mai [JD] Cagulangan," Luanzon recounted.
"Their heads were down for like the first 10 minutes in the locker room after the game. But at the same time, they were able to lift themselves up," he added.
"And the very next day, Coach Gold--through us--kinausap namin 'yung players, we watched film. And at the same time, we pointed out not only our mistakes but also the things that we did well, that we could do better," Luanzon shared. "Because we knew that the margin for error was slim, and we saw that in Game Two."
"So we worked on that... For example, against Quiambao, we cannot ever go under a screen, whether it's off ball or on a ball screen. And then on Phillips, we just got to put a body on him."
It was here that one-and-done player Quentin Millora-Brown and his experience in such a pressure-packed moment came in handy.
"When we lost that game, I was like, 'This is what a series is about,'" QMB said in the same interview.
"I went to each guy and told them, 'The moment you step out of the locker room, forget everything bad that you did. Focus on the good things that you did and we're going to win game three, we're gonna find a way,'" he recounted.
And well, they did.
Lopez redeemed himself with 12 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, a steal, and a block in Game 3.
It was his three that gave UP some breathing space with 1:13 left in regulation.
[ALSO READ: Francis Lopez shrugs off doubters after clutch three for UP in Game 3 vs La Salle]
And it was only fitting that the title series would safely be clinched right where it was nearly lost--at the free throw line.
This time, it was QMB who had the task of putting the game away for UP.
"They tried to ice me obviously by calling the timeout there," Millora-Brown shared. "But for me, I was just focused on one free throw at a time. Clear my mind, being in the moment, and just focusing on one shot at a time. One shot at a time."
"And just walking up to the line I would really just ignore the crowd everything's kind of like..." he paused.
"It's loud but quiet."
"The crowd is screaming, but you're just focusing in your head, right? Like the free throw is going to go in right here, charging yourself up."
"And then once I flipped that second free throw, I was like all right we got to get one more stop. We just got to find a way to get a stop here."
He dedicated those baskets to his late grandfather, a UP alumnus himself, who coached Quentin on free throws.
[ALSO READ: Quentin Millora-Brown offers championship free throws to late grandfather — ‘He always talked about free throws’]
It's this brand of resilience despite the immense pressure that Luanzon and Millora-Brown became proud of when it came to the Fighting Maroons.
"Everyone's like, 'Okay, how do we how do we figure it out? How do we get through it? How do we adjust and adapt and overcome?' Just that resilience that fight just being there every day," QMB noted.
"There's always pressure on us," noted Luanzon. "Coach Gold, he always talks about, you know, life. He would always say that pressure will always be there. It's how you handle pressure."
(With reports from Kiko Demigillo, Luisa Morales/One Sports Digital)