ADAMSON University escaped the upset ax wielded by a gritty University of the East (UE), 66-57, to keep solo third place in Season 80 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball action on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“It was not an easy game for us. We struggled,” said Adamson University Head Coach Franz Pumaren, stressing that the Red Warriors have improved a lot since the first round where they beat UE, 79-69.
The victory allowed the Soaring Falcons to bounce back from a 51-79 loss to front-running Ateneo in their last outing.
As important, the Falcons stopped the Red Warriors’ mini two-game streak after going winless for almost all of the first round.
“UE is on a streak, they really played well. They’re not the UE team that we played during the first round,” said Pumaren, who also beat his elder brother and Red Warriors Coach Derick Pumaren for the second time this season.
UE was in the thick of the fight almost three-fourths of the way until Adamson University started to break lose in the fourth quarter by taking a 59-50 lead on Kristian Bernardo’s back-to-back baskets with seven minutes to play.
The Red Warriors, however, stayed within striking distance and trimmed their deficit to five, 59-54.
Sean Manganti hit a clutch three-pointer to give Adamson University a 62-54 spread in the 3:28 mark.
UE failed to score in the last two minutes as Jerrick Ahanmisi and Manganti scored crucial baskets to help the Falcons pull away to their sixth victory in nine games.
Ahanmisi led the Falcons with 14 points on 43-percent shooting and also had three assists, two steals and one rebound.
Papi Sarr put up on a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds, while Manganti chipped in 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists for Adamson University.
“At least the team stayed within the course,“ Pumaren said. “We just had to slow down [Alvin] Pasaol a bit, but I think we can improve down the stretch with regards to our execution and defense.”
Pasaol had 22 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Mark Olayon made 16 points for UE, which fell to 2-7 won-lost.
Image credits: Stephanie Tumampos