Adamson repeats over UST; rises to solo fourth
Date Posted: November 7, 2023 at 02:31 PM
The Soaring Falcons strengthened their grip of fourth place in the UAAP 86 Men’s Basketball Tournament after soaring past University of Santo Tomas, 61-53, November 4, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
With the win, Adamson upped their record to .500 at 5-5 with just four games remaining in the second round.
Just like their matchup in the first round last October 4, Adamson kept their foes from Espana at bay, staving off numerous runs from the Tigers throughout the game.
Falcons coach Nash Racela, in the post-game press conference, said he is happy that they remain in the hunt for a Final Four slot despite pundits having other teams filling in the last playoff spot.
It was a back-and-forth affair in the first half with both teams converting their shots and trading leads, with Adamson gaining the upper hand at the buzzer, 35-32. The Falcons, though, started to pull away in the third frame and increased their lead to eight, 48-40, on the way to the final quarter.
A run by the Tigers lead by Christian Manaytay slowly swayed the momentum to UST and trimmed the AdU lead to two, 52-50, with less than seven minutes left in the game.
Adamson dominated the glass, snagging 50 rebounds, 20 of them from the offensive side, which resulted in 18 second-chance points. UST only had 40 rebounds and four second-chance points.
Mathew Montebon and Didat Hanapi, however, punched in three consecutive three-pointers to push the Adamson lead to 11 at 61-50, with 2:50 remaining, and eventually sealed the game for their team, this time, in regulation.
Joshua Yerro, once again, carried the load for the Falcons with 17 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Joem Sabandal and Monteboon added nine and eight markers, respectively.
OJ Ojarikre, meanwhile, grabbed 11 rebounds along with three rejections and two markers.
Adamson will go against De La Salle University this Wednesday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
The Scores:
AdU 61 – Yerro 17, Sabandal 9, Montebon 8, Calisay 7, Hanapi 7, Anabo 6, Manzano 3, Ojarikre 2, Magbuhos 2, Colonia 0, Erolon 0, Barcelona 0, Barasi 0, Ramos 0, Canete 0.
UST 53 – Manaytay 13, Calum 9, Lazarte 9, Cabañero 9, Manalang 8, Pangilinan 4, Duremdes 1, Crisostomo 0, Laure 0, Ventulan 0, Gesalem 0, Llemit 0, Esmena 0, Moore 0.
Quarterscores: 19-20, 35-32, 48-40, 61-53