Falcons down UAAP champs UP in Filoil Cup
Date Posted: August 19, 2022 at 01:53 PM
The Falcons have slowly rekindled one of the most competitive rivalries in today’s college basketball as they draw first blood in the new season against UAAP 84 titlists University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons.
Adamson had a wire-to-wire but highly contested 71-64 victory in Group A of the 15th Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup last August 14 ath the Filoil EcoOil Center in San Juan.
With the win, the Falcons have secured a quarterfinals berth, also upping their win-loss record to 5-3.
The San Marcelino-based squad came out guns blazing, never letting their foot off the gas pedal and erected their biggest lead at 20, 46-26, in the third quarter.
“I remember during one of the timeouts ang sabi namin ‘there’s too much celebration going on’, I think that was the end of the third quarter. Ang sabi ko ‘wala pang dapat i-celebrate’,” Coach Nash Racela said, talking about his satisfaction with his wards’ game.
”Pero, we should celebrate the right things, so kung tama ang laro ninyo, then that’s a reason to celebrate pero kanina sabi namin ‘nag te-turnover tayo, nagkakamali tayo bakit tayo nag ce-celebrate; then kumabaga mag self-check lang muna tayo ulit.”
UP took advantage of successive Falcon errors and trim the lead to six, 66-59, with 4:03 remaining in the final canto, but Adamson made clutch stops and crucial baskets to seal the victory.
Joem Sabandal scored five quick points to restore a double-digit deficit for the Falcons, 71-59 in the final two minutes of the game.
Sabandal tallied 14 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals while his backcourt partner Jerom Lastimosa also ended up with 14 markers while also posting four boards and two steals. Returning wing AP Manlapaz also continues his stellar play with 13 points.
"It's always a bonus if they bring their A games every time, but that's not our expectation of our players. What we want is they bring stability on the floor, doing the right things, and making the right decisions," Racela said.
