Adamson University clamped down on Far Eastern University in the fourth quarter to carve out a 56-53 come-from-behind win in the UAAP Season 89 Men’s Basketball Tournament opener on Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Trailing 37-46 after the third period, the Soaring Falcons got key contributions from Nigerian center Precious Jonah, Mathew Montebon, Manu Anabo, Matty Erolon, and Mat Edding as they took control of the game, 54-51, with 2:09 left.
On the other hand, it was the Cabs Cabonillas show for the Tamaraws, with the rookie scoring all seven of FEU’s points in the payoff quarter.
(C) UAAP Season 89 Media Team
“We’re just very thankful that we were able to get the win. It’s a tough battle every time we play FEU. They really made it hard for us also,” said Adamson head coach Nash Racela, whose team played catch-up for most of the game.
“At some point sa game, we were kinda lost, and that’s because of what FEU did to us. It just so happened that our players were able to gather and group themselves together,” he admitted.
Cabonillas scored FEU’s final basket on a putback off a miss by Jorick Bautista, but Erolon answered with a jumper with 1:33 remaining to give Adamson the final lead. Both teams traded misses the rest of the way.
Kirby Mongcopa had the Tamaraws’ final attempt, but his well-defended three-pointer badly missed the mark.
“Kailangan pa namin i-improve ‘yung first half namin kasi halos palagi kaming naghahabol sa second half. Sa mga susunod na games, yun ang dapat naming matutunan,” said Edding, who scored 10 points, six of which came in the fourth quarter.
Montebon led the Soaring Falcons with 18 points and four steals while finishing with a plus-25 rating in his 30 minutes and 18 seconds on the floor.
Erolon added eight points and five rebounds, while debuting Nigerian center Jonah contributed eight points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks.
(C) UAAP Season 89 Media Team
Season 88 High School Boys’ MVP Cabonillas led the Tamaraws in his collegiate debut with 11 points and 12 rebounds but struggled from the field, shooting 5-of-13. He nevertheless finished with a plus-15 rating in his 24 minutes and 28 seconds on the court.
Reigning collegiate MVP Janrey Pasaol also struggled, shooting just 2-of-11 from the field for 11 points while adding five assists against five turnovers. Graduating guard Jorick Bautista had a tough outing as well, tallying nine points, all in the first quarter.
Both teams will go on a long break right away, with the UAAP limiting its early-season play dates due to the 2026 Asian Games.
They will return to action on September 26 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Adamson faces Ateneo de Manila University at 12:00 PM, before FEU battles University of the East at 2:30 PM.
The Scores:
AdU 56 — Montebon 18, Edding 10, Erolon 8, Jonah 8, Anabo 5, Torres 5, Barcelona 2, Fransman 0, Medina 0, Tumaneng 0, Cruz-Dumont 0, Pacquiao 0, Perez 0.
FEU 53 — Pasaol 11, Cabonillas 11, Bautista 9, Gish 5, Konateh 5, Mongcopa 4, Felipe 4, Burgos 2, Montemayor 2, Daa 0, Nakai 0.
Quarterscores: 11-16, 28-36, 37-46, 56-53.
