University of the Philippines head coach Goldwin Monteverde designed a play late in the payoff period that eventually turned the tables for the Fighting Maroons.
Monteverde knew that James Spencer was fiery from beyond the arc. With full confidence and zero hesitation at all, he did not disappoint.
Spencer fired a crucial three-pointer to tie the game at 70-all with 24.7 seconds left and force an overtime.
"It was a designed play by coach Gold," said Spencer as UP escaped with an 81-74 win in Game 1 of the UAAP Finals at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Sunday night, May 8. "Honestly, I was just thinking, my shot's feeling good. I have no hesitation on the catch."
Looking at the stats, Spencer finished 13 points on a 5-of-8 shooting along with four rebounds.
He only missed once from the three-point range and delivered on a 3-of-4 shooting.
"If no one's near me then I'm gonna let it fly. And I let it fly," added the 22-year-old Spencer.
The 6-foot-4 forward proved that he's a force to be reckoned with especially at crunchtime.
This wasn't the only case as Spencer also hit a clutch triple in UP's 84-83 win over Ateneo in their last elimination game on Labor Day.
After three deadlocks, Spencer's go-ahead three enabled an 82-81 lead for the Maroons before Ricci Rivero came alive when it mattered the most as UP halted Ateneo's 39-game win streak since October 2018.
At present, Spencer and Rivero had also formed a dynamic duo in the clutch and continued to break the hearts of the Ateneo community.