It’s better to be lucky than good
Sean Manganti was in the right place and at the right time, connecting with a lucky tip-in to carry the Adamson University Soaring Falcons past the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 73-71, Wednesday afternoon at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
“Well, I guess we were lucky to win the game. The whole game, we were struggling, we had a bad start, a flat start, we made a lot of mental mistakes, we were just going through the motions,” said second-year Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren.
The win extended Adamson’s streak to three games, tied with the FEU Tamaraws in the standings with a 4-2 record. UP, on the other hand, dropped to fifth with a 3-3 slate.
Jerrick Ahanmisi was scorching all throughout the game, scoring 21 points on a blistering 8-for-11 clip, spiked by three triples. Jerie Pingoy added 10 markers.
“I think it’s a good win, and today, this game showed us that we cant have a bad start and have lapses on defense. I think come the next game, we’re gonna be prepared,” shared Ahanmisi, who tallied his season-high.
But it was Manganti who lifted the Soaring Falcons when they needed it the most.
After Paul Desiderio converted a strong drive with 22 ticks remaining to knot the game at 71-all, the Soaring Falcons went to their money man Ahanmisi to close out the game. The sophomore went for a tough fadeaway that badly missed. Papi Sarr was able to gobble up the rebound but also missed his attempt.
Luckily for Adamson, Manganti, who stands at 6-foot-5, soared through the air for a tip-in to give Adamson the lead with 1.4 seconds left. The sophomore big man then followed it up with a defensive stop, bothering Jun Manzo’s inbound to seal the win.
“I guess this is a good test on our part, that in the crucial moments of the game, we can survive a game like this,” added Pumaren.
Manganti finished with eight points.
UP led by as much as 14 points in the contest, but Adamson were able to regain their bearings in the second frame.
Both teams then exchanged leads and baskets in the final frame. Desiderio was able to give UP a 67-65 lead with 4:48 remaining, but a Sarr split and a Robbie Manalang pull-up jumper returned the edge to Adamson with 2:19 left.
Manzo then converted a clutch, bail-out basket for another lead change. But Manalang was not to be denied, scoring on a pull-up triple to give Adamson a 71-69 lead with 1:02 to go.
That’s when Desiderio took matters into his own hands, scoring on a strong drive against Sarr for the final deadlock of the game.
“In fact we didn’t really play smart, we made a lot of mental mistakes and we made it difficult on our part. With regards to Sean, we put several guys to slow down Desiderio, but he really made some big baskets,” Pumaren said.
Manalang finished with eight points off the bench, while Papi Sarr gobbled down 16 rebounds.
UP’s Cebuano duo of Desiderio and Manzo scored 19 points each. The Fighting Maroon bench once against struggled, combining for just 14 points.
Adamson take on the Far Eastern University Tamaraws on Saturday, October 6, at 4:00pm. UP, on the other hand, look to end their first round campaign with a win on Sunday, October 8, when they face the National University Bulldogs at 12:00nn. Both games will be played at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Scores:
AdU 73 – Ahanmisi 21, Pingoy 10, Manalang 8, Manganti 8, Sarr 6, Lojera 5, Ochea 5, Hill 4, Espeleta 4, Bernardo 2, Mustre 0, Zaldivar 0.
UP 71 – Desiderio 19, Manzo 19, Gomez de Liano Ja 8, Ouattara 8, Lao 4, Dario 3, Gomez de Liano Ju 3, Prado 3, Lim 2, Battad 2, Vito 0.
Quarterscores: 16-25, 43-44, 57-54, 73-71
