Bouncing back from a scoreless outing, Sean Manganti knocked down the game-winner to keep the Adamson University Soaring Falcons’ slate unblemished and hand the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons their third straight loss, 69-68, Wednesday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
Just like two of their first three wins of the season, the Soaring Falcons needed to gut this one out.
“UP really prepared for us. I anticipated that it’s a bounce back game for them,” said third-year Soaring Falcons head coach Franz Pumaren. “We allowed UP to dictate the game. We drifted away from what were supposed to do.
“I’ve been telling them 3-0, 4-0 is nothing,” he rued.
The Fighting Maroons led by as much as 12 points in the third frame – 65-57 late in the final stanza. But then the Soaring Falcons decided to wake up.
Behind their patented defense, the Soaring Falcons answered right back with a 10-1 run capped by a Jonathan Espeleta triple from Jerrick Ahanmisi to gain a 67-66 lead with 1:39 left.
“The way we played today, we’re thinking highly of ourselves,” admitted Pumaren.
After getting multiple breaks, the Fighting Maroons were able to get one through as Bright Akhuetie cleaned up an airball by Paul Desiderio with 5.7 ticks to spare.
Off a timeout, Sean Manganti received the ball underneath, knocking down a well-contested push shot over David Murell. With no timeouts left and 0.7 seconds to work with, UP tried to inbound the ball from beyond halfcourt but the pass was intercepted by Ahanmisi.
“I can say that it was lucky for us. Good shot by Sean. The poise of the players showed,” said Pumaren.
After a scoreless outing against UST last Saturday, Manganti finished with 18 points, while partner-in-crime Jerrick Ahanmisi added 15 markers. Papi Sarr tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Fighting Maroons, who dropped to 1-3, were led by Juan Gomez de Liano with 21 points, eight rebounds, and two assists. Bright Akhuetie’s 20-20 game also went to waste.
Adamson looks to continue their streak on Saturday, September 29, when they take on the National University Bulldogs at the Filoil Flying V Centre. UP, on the other hand, hope to end their skid when they face the De La Salle University Green Archers on Sunday, September 30, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
ADU 69 — Manganti 18, Ahanmisi 15, Sarr 11, Espeleta 10, Pingoy 9, Camacho 2, Lastimosa 2, V. Magbuhos 2, Bernardo 0, Catapusan 0, Colonia 0, Mojica 0.
UP 68 — Ju. Gomez de Liano 21, Akhuetie 20, Ja. Gomez de Liano 7, Desiderio 6, Manzo 6, Murrell 4, Jaboneta 2, Prado 2, Dario 0, Gozum 0, Lim 0, Tungcab 0, Vito 0.
Quarterscores: 24-16, 30-28, 47-57, 69-68.
