Continuing their string of impressive outings, the Adamson University Soaring Falcons picked apart the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 86-70, Sunday evening at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“Our mentality is Final Four mode already. During this stretch, every game is important, and every game is a learning process for us, a learning experience for us,” said second-year Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren as they are winning with an average of 11.33 points during their three-game winning streak.
With a 9-4 slate, Adamson sealed the third Final Four spot. In addition, with just one game left in their slate, the Soaring Falcons have already one-upped their 8-6 record a season ago.
“First of all, I guess we exceeded our last year’s performance. We’re ahead by one game going to the last game of the eliminations. That’s an improvement already,” beamed Pumaren.
Same could not be said about UP as it fell to a 5-7 slate, a game behind fourth-running FEU Tamaraws.
“It’s so hard for UP, I’m also torn, I just finished a course and I took up Masters sa UP. I take this opportunity, shoutout to Mr. Anton Montinola (FEU’s board representative). Sabi niya may freebie daw ako if we beat UP,” quipped the youthful mentor.
By the third frame, Pumaren’s deal with Montinola was virutally sealed as Adamson soared to a 30-point quarter. Jerie Pingoy, Papi Sarr, and Robbie Manalang combined to score 23 points during the quarter that helped Adamson erect a 23-point lead, 60-37, with 4:28 left in the quarter.
Papi Sarr finished with 25 points on a 9-for-14 shooting clip to go along with 17 rebounds while Jerie Pingoy had 15 points, eight assists, and six steals.
However, during the run itself, things got heated between the two sides as the UP-side grew frustrated. A “fan” was even escorted out of the arena for throwing paper on the court.
“Sinasabi ni Coach Franz, just play, wag niyo na isipin yun. Tina-try nila na sirain sa ganoon na plays. We’re just gonna play our game,” said Pingoy.
UP battled back in the final frame, cutting the lead to as low as eight points, 74-66, after six straight points by Paul Desiderio. However, the Soaring Falcons answered right back with a 12-0 run of their own to finally quell the Fighting Maroons.
“If you notice it, during the time that we made a run, the second time we made, I didn’t call a timeout. For me, that’s one way of trusting my players, one way of making them feel that they should rise above the challenge. They were able to regroup,” Pumaren said.
Jerrick Ahanmisi and Robbie Manalang finished with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Besides winning the rebounding battle, the Soaring Falcons went 25-for-28 from the charity stripe. In contrast, the Fighting Maroons attempted just 10 freebies in the contest.
Desiderio scored a team-high 20 points for UP while running-mate Jun Manzo added 15 markers.
UP was without rookie Juan Gomez de Liano due to a sprained ankle. Mali student-athlete Ibra Outtara played just nine minutes, struggling from foul trouble and spraining his left ankle later on after a rebounding scrum.
Adamson plays its final game of the round against the FEU Tamaraws on Saturday, November 11 at 4:00pm. UP, on the other hand, will try to upset the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Wednesday, November 8 to keep their hopes alive.
The Scores:
ADU 86 – Sarr 25, Pingoy 15, Ahanmisi 11, Manalang 10, Espeleta 8, Manganti 5, Ochea 4, Hill 4, Camacho 4, Lojera 0, Mustre 0, Bernardo 0, Paranada 0
UP 70 – Desiderio 20, Manzo 15, Gomez de Liano 10, Vito 6, Lim 4, Dario 3, Jaboneta 3, Webb 3, Ouattara 2, Romero 2, Lao 2, Harris 0, Prado 0
Quarterscores: 18-17, 39-31, 69-50, 86-70
