Lee says UST will use loss to UP as motivation

University of Santo Tomas guard Marvin Lee surveys the floor against University of the Philippines during their game in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, at Mall of Asia Arena. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

University of Santo Tomas lost to University of the Philippines by the slimmest of margins and it couldn’t be more heartbreaking for the Growling Tigers with the way the game turned out Sunday.

But no matter how painful UST’s loss was, team captain Marvin Lee still took some positives out of it as the Growling Tigers shift their focus in their coming games. 

“For me, what happened was a good experience and we’ll use this loss as a motivation for our future games,” said Lee in Filipino after the Tigers’ 74-73 loss to the Maroons at Mall of Asia Arena. 

Lee, who finished with a game-high 20 points, would’ve been UST’s hero after burying two free throws that put his team ahead, 73-71, with 5.4 seconds left.

The story, however, was Paul Desiderio, who sank the go-ahead triple with 1.1 ticks remaining.

“Well, it was over and we can’t do anything about the result,” said Lee. “I think the first game just wasn’t for us.”