There will be no first-round sweep for the University of the Philippines (UP) in UAAP Season 86.

This, after the Fighting Maroons failed to complete a comeback against defending champion Ateneo Blue Eagles at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, October 22.

Rookie big man Mason Amos caught fire in the payoff period and in overtime, and for UP veteran CJ Cansino, this was a result of them showing signs of complacency.

“Kulang pa. For the past games namin, ‘yun lang ‘yung nagiging problema namin. Hinihintay muna naming may sumapak sa ‘min bago kami sumapak,” he said, after putting up 22 points, six rebounds, two blocks, an assist, and a steal.

Cansino displayed his emotions during the game, at one point even shushing the Ateneo crowd at the Pasay venue.

But for the UP captain, what affected him more was the way they handled Ateneo’s late-game pushback.

“Meron din talagang emotions, pero mas nalungkot ako na ‘di kami natututo sa mga past games namin dahil nananalo kami,” Cansino said.

“Hopefully, itong talo namin, mas matuto kami para mas mabuti for the second round,” he added.

Head coach Goldwin Monteverde then went on to emphasize their need to improve on their consistency as they entered the second half of the year.

“Sa standings, nakita natin we’re number one. But sa ‘kin, we’re just halfway through the season,” the coach added.

“Our concern right now is how to play consistently. We just have to gather ourselves together and be ready for the games,” he said.

“‘Yung effort was there, pero we need to learn in such a way that we can do that all game. We just gotta back na. We just need to be consistent about doing things,” he added. (ABS-CBN News)