ADAMSON PROVES WORTH AFTER DEFEATING UE IN THE 2ND ROUND
By Maxine Louise Lagman
22 October 2016
AFTER a devastating seven-point deficit against University of the East in the first round of the UAAP basketball tournament, the Adamson University was able to win the second round match, 79-71 on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Brothers Franz and Derrick Pumaren faced off for the second time, but this match was hard fought by the Falcons. Adamson bounced back as well and ended their two-game losing streak, eyeing more a spot to play in the final four.
“Our goal from the opening is just to be competitive and improve on what we achieved last year. And the way we are competing right now, I think we have a good shot at looking the final four,” said Adamson Coach Franz Pumaren.
The Soaring Falcons improved to 5-5 in the league standings and currently placed them in fourth place.
Big man Papi Sarr led the team and made big shots late in the game to secure their victory and finished with a double-double 25 points and 15 rebounds. Jerrick Ahanmisi made up for his scoreless output in their last game against University of the Philippines, with 17 points and three assists.
“I just have to keep on helping the team in ways that I can help and just forget about the past game,” said Ahanmisi.
The Rookie of the Year candidate, Ahanmisi, pointed out that he will make up for his bad performance against UP, because it clearly affected the overall game play of the team.
“I think that this is just a test for them. A reality check for them if they can recover and if they’re up to the challenge,” added Pumaren. “With this win, we could use it as springboard in the coming games.”
Despite Alvin Pasaol’s 16 points and five rebounds, UE continued to drop even further to 2-8 in the league standings. Paul Varilla and Nick Abanto added 13 and 10 points, respectively.
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