The Adamson University Soaring Falcons blitzed the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals in a huge 24-9 third quarter run en route to an 84-73 win Friday afternoon at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
The Soaring Falcons started the game with an early 10-7 lead with majority of the points coming from rainbow country courtesy of Nico Capote and Jimboy Pasturan. After a timeout by EAC head coach Andy de Guzman, the Generals were able to close the gap and eventually take the lead due to the lackadaisical perimeter defense of Adamson. Three pointers by Francis Munsayac and Pau Pascual gave EAC a 17-15 lead. The quarter ended with EAC on top 19-18.
In the second quarter, the Generals went on a huge 17-5 run ignited by back-to-back three pointers by Joshua General that gave EAC a 37-27 lead. Adamson’s foreign student-athlete Papi Sarr went on a 6-0 run on his own to cut the EAC lead to just five points 41-36.
According to Adamson coach Kenneth Duremdes that during the halftime break, he emphasized that the team needs better ball movement to create better shots and to easily setup their defense. That is what the Soaring Falcons did during a huge third quarter explosion. The Falcon defense limited the Generals to just nine points in the quarter. A game-changing 17-3 run gave Adamson a 56-46 cushion with 2:24 remaining in the quarter powered by three shots from downtown by Nico Capote. The quarter ended with Adamson on top 60-50.
Papi Sarr and rookie JD Tungcab were able to quell any General rally in the fourth. With the game out of reach, EAC’s spitfire point guard Francis Munsayac was accidentally hit by a shoulder from an Adamson player and was stretchered out of the playing court for precautionary measures. Emilio Aguinaldo College head coach Andy De Guzman said that Munsayac is alright and was suffering from a sinusitis prior to the game.
In using a short 10-man rotation for the majority of the game, coach Kenneth Duremdes deemed that this line-up was the best the team has as of the moment. However, he is still giving a chance for the other Adamson players to crack the rotation but those guys need to work hard for it.
Papi Sarr led all scorers with 20 points on 7 of 19 shooting. He also grabbed nine rebounds. Outside of Matthew Aquino, all Adamson starters scored in double-figures with Capote scoring 19, Dawn Ochea with 13, Tungcab with 12, and Pasturan scoring 10. For EAC, Munsayac had 15 markers to lead the team.
As a team, Adamson shot the ball well with a 46% clip compared to just 37% from EAC. Moreover, the Falcon offense was sharp as the team assisted on 20 of the team’s 29 made field goals.
The ADU Falcons next face the FEU Tamaraws tomorrow, May 30 at 1:30pm while the EAC Generals face the same team on Friday, June 5 at 3:00pm.
The Scores:
ADU (84) – Sarr 20, Capote 19, Ochea 13, Tungcab 12, Pasturan 10, Aquino 3, Polican 2, Garcia 2, Bernardo 2, Ng 1
EAC (73) – Munsayac 15, Onwubere 14, Pascual 11, General 8, Mbang 5, Corilla 4, Morada 4, Pascua 4, Laminou 2, Diego 2, Estacio 2,Mejos 2
| TEAMS | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH |
| ADU (A, 2-4) | 18 | 36 | 60 | 84 |
| Eac (A, 1-6) | 19 | 41 | 50 | 73 |
