The weekend of upsets continue!
The young Adamson University Soaring Falcons displayed maturity in the end game, upsetting the battle-tested Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 61-59, Sunday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
With the victory, the Soaring Falcons are just a win away from securing the last semifinals spot.
“We needed this win. At this stage, we’re looking at making it to the playoffs,” said first year Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren. “We needed this type of game especially since the next three games will be tough.”
Filipino-American big man Sean Manganti scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out four assists to lead Adamson. Floor general Robbie Manalang added 12 points in the win.
“It was a tough game. As a team we know the importance of this game because of the seeding. Coming into this game we knew we had to execute,” Manalang said as he wants to lead Adamson to the Final Four for the first time since 2011.
“We deserve it. We prepared really hard prior to this game and I’m happy we came out with the win,” Manganti added.
But it was the intangibles provided by Jonathan Espeleta that secured Adamson’s sixth win.
Adamson were clinging on to a solitary point, 60-59, with 3.8 seconds remaining when Espeleta, who finished the game with eight points and five rebounds, was able to force FEU’s Monbert Arong into a travelling violation to return the possession back to Adamson. A split on the stripe by Manganti secured the win.
“With Jonathan Espeleta, he was the one who last made the cut in the line-up,” Pumaren said about the big man. “He showed us that he deserves to play. He is showing the responsibility to our team.”
Adamson were able to gain a 58-51 lead early in the final frame behind huge baskets by Espeleta and Jerrick Ahanmisi. However, the Tamaraws were able to hold the Falcons scoreless for the next two minutes and 10 seconds. On the other end, Raymar Jose took charge, scoring two baskets and grabbing Papi Sarr’s fifth foul of the game.
“If you look at the game, especially the last three minutes, we were in total control. But it still shows a semblance of us being a young team,” Pumaren said.
A putback by Joe Trinidad and a breakaway layup by Jose cut the lead to just a solitary point with 29.3 seconds remaining.
“For me what I’ve been stressing, we have to take care of our own destiny,” Pumaren said about the win. “We don’t look at the other team standings, our destiny is in our hands, we just had to take it one game at a time.”
King Tamaraw Jose was the only FEU player to score in double-digits. He had 16 points and nine rebounds.
However, even if the Tamaraws shot better from the field (40 percent compared to 35 percent) and were able to control the boards (52 to 31), Adamson were able to go to the stripe 17 times compared to just eight for FEU. Moreover, the Tamaraws uncharacteristically committed 27 turnovers in the game that led to 21 turnover points for the Falcons.
The Adamson Soaring Falcons (6-5) look to secure the last Final Four spot as they take on the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers on Wednesday, November 9. On the same day, the FEU Tamaraws (8-3) look to get back on the winning track, facing the Ateneo Blue Eagles on the same day.
The Scores:
ADU (61) – Manganti 14, Manalang 12, Espeleta 8, Sarr 6, Bernardo 6, Tungcab 5, Ahanmisi 4, Mustre 4, Ochea 2, Camacho 0, Paranada 0, Chua 0, Ng 0.
FEU (59) – Jose 16, Tuffin 8, Arong 7, Inigo 6, Orizu 5, Trinidad 5, Dennison 4, Comboy 3, Roxas 3, Escoto 2, Bayquin 0, Ebona 0, Holmqvist 0, Denila 0.
Quarterscores: 9-17, 30-32, 46-44, 61-59
