Baby Falcons topple Ateneo; secures UAAP semis, NBTC Nationals slots

Date Posted: February 13, 2020 at 03:34 PM


The Baby Falcons shook off a lackluster first half en route to a 84-75 victory over Ateneo to advance in the stepladder semifinals of the UAAP Season 82 Boys Basketball Stepladder, February 12 at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Trailing by a solitary point in the fourth quarter, Adamson unleashed an 18-2 run to take a 75-60 lead midway.

Ateneo was able to bring down the lead to nine, 79-70, but the late-game efforts of Lebron Lopez and Forth Padrigao went for naught as the Baby Falcons sealed the victory.

The boys from San Marcelino were down by 15, 29-14, in the early goings but a 15-2 spurt enabled them to close the gap before halftime, 31-29.

Rookie MVP Jake Figueroa posted 15 points, 22 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals, lead a balanced Adamson offense where six Baby Falcons scored in double digits.

Hotshot John Erolon also tallied 16 markers built on 4 troikas, to go along with five boards and five dimes.

With the victory, the Baby Falcons booked their place for the 2020 Chooks-to-Go National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) National Finals.

Adamson also moves on to face twice-to-beat FEU-Diliman on the second phase of the stepladder to be played on a later date after the UAAP suspended games as precautions on the COVID-19 outbreak.