Going into its game against the De La Salle University Green Archers, the young Adamson University Soaring Falcons were the talk of the town after knocking off favorites Ateneo Blue Eagles and NU Bulldogs in succession. Tickets allocated for Adamson University were reportedly sold out for the game as a fourth of the SM Mall of Asia Arena were filled to the rafters, all wearing Adamson’s colors.
However, in 40 minutes of action Saturday afternoon, the young Falcons were overpowered by the deep Green Archers line-up. La Salle led by as much as 19 points in the game and the lead never dropped below 11 points in the second half. It was probably the worst outing of the Soaring Falcons in five games.
For first year Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren, the loss was a combination of La Salle playing its best game and his team playing its worst.
“I don’t think you have to be a basketball expert to look at the picture, I think they played the best game so far of the season and we played the worst game so far,” Pumaren remarked as his team allowed La Salle to shoot 47 percent from the field.
The anticipation for the game by both the players and the community might have affected the psyche of his players the 52 year old mentor added.
“They’re not used to this type of environment, this is a learning experience for our part”
The former mentor of the Green Archers though admitted that his former team did not do anything special in the game. Moreover, he saw a silver-lining that his team could build on once the two teams face-off again in the second round.
“I saw what happened, I don’t think they did anything special,” he quipped.
“For a number one team and committing 26 turnovers, it’s already a big accomplishment for my young team,” he shared. But his team was not able to take advantage of the turnovers, only scoring 17 points off of it. “It showed the composition of the team, we’re a very young team.”
“We were probably in awe of the crowd.”
“I’m not disappointed but I’m not happy [as well]. But it’s okay, they played their best we played our worst game of the season,” Pumaren closed.
