De La Salle University head coach Topex Robinson against the University of the Philippines in their UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball game at the Araneta Coliseum, November 10, 2024. Photo by Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News.

MANILA — De La Salle University will head into the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball Final Four as the best team in the elimination round.

After the reigning champions imposed their might anew on the University of the Philippines (UP) via a 77-66 win on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum, the Green Archers secured the top seed with a 12-1 record with just one game left in their schedule.

"We just reminded everybody that we have to treat this game as a championship," said La Salle head coach Topex Robinson on what helped them overcome an 11-point UP lead in the first half before coming into form in the last 20 minutes of action.

"We know that UP will really come out with guns blazing, and we just tried to match their energy, be more composed on both ends, and really execute our offense. We just tried to make certain adjustments," he continued.

READ: La Salle reasserts mastery of UP to secure top seed

This is an improvement on how they entered the playoffs in their championship run in Season 86.

Last year, before clinching the title, the Green Archers ended the elimination round with an 11-3 record, second in the team standings. They went on to demolish National University in the Final Four with a 97-73 beatdown, and despite faltering against UP in their Finals series opener, La Salle swept the next two to close out the Fighting Maroons in three.

However, even if La Salle is in a better spot in comparison to last year, Robinson emphasized that there is still a long way to go if the Green Archers want to retain the title in Vito Cruz.

"Being number one doesn't make you champions," he insisted. "It's just a testament of the things that you need to do in order to really get momentum heading into the Final Four." 

"[The Final Four] is going to be a big challenge. Another thing is, the other teams are really picking up. There is still a mad scramble for the number three and four spots, so we don't have control of what's going to happen with those teams."

With this, Robinson wants his team to avoid complacency, and for them to continue playing and preparing the right way as the postseason nears. 

"We only have control of what we're going to do. We committed a lot of mistakes in this game, and we're always making sure that these wins will not hide our mistakes and our flaws. That's something that we really have to work on coming into the Final Four," he pointed out of the Archers who, despite the win, still allowed UP to tally 22 fastbreak points and 15 second chance points. 

"We always strive for greatness. We honor basketball, we honor the game. It's been good to us, and short-handling or short-changing [our opponents] guys is unfair to them. So, we're always going to come out playing for our school, playing for the alumni that always watch our game, and it's unfair to them if we're not going to play our best"

"It's always going to be about bringing out our best for our alma mater," added Robinson.

La Salle will close out their Round 2 assignments against the already-eliminated National University on Wednesday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion at 2:00 p.m.

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