By Jun Ray Navarres
The Soaring Falcons are back in a familiar position!
Adamson University’s fourth-quarter finesse on Saturday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre, led to a 69-55 victory over Ateneo de Manila University, forcing a playoff for the last semifinal berth of UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball tournament.
Finishing the elimination with three wins out of the last four games, the San Marcelino-based squad propelled themselves to 6-8 and tied with struggling University of the East for a win or go home scenario on Wednesday at the MOA Arena. The winner will play twice-to-beat De La Salle University in the Final Four.
“It’s our defense. Sabi nga namin it’s our ticket to being competitive as a team which we missed the last time we played UST. We went back to our old ways today,” said head coach Nash Racela.
The Soaring Falcons’ defensive prowess will be tested against the struggling Caloocan-based team, who, despite a strong first round, has now lost five consecutive games.
But the pressure is not new to Adamson, having been in the playoff for that no. 4 spot in the last two seasons.
“We’re willing to do that every year if that’s our shot to make it to the Final Four,” said Racela.
Entering the second half with a slim lead, Adamson managed to up the deficit to double digits courtesy of Royce Mantua’s drive, 51-41.
Ateneo retaliated with a mini 5-0 run to stay within striking distance going into the final period, 46-51.
The Soaring Falcons, however, were quick to recover, sporting a 7-0 counter run for a comfortable cushion of 58-46.
Andrew Bongo popped a three to spark Ateneo’s offense, but Joshua Yerro and Manu Anabo extended the lead to 15 with two consecutive threes, 64-49.
In the end, Adamson held the Blue Eagles to a meager eight points in the final period.
“I’m very happy we all played each other’s parts really well, especially on defense,” said Mantua.
“We all know that this is gonna be our final chance to compete in the Final Four so we all really have to play our A-game, and my shots came knocking down,“ he added as he paced the Falcons with a 7-of-8 from the field for 14 points.
Anabo added 13 points while Matt Erolon contributed 11 coming from three triples.
Jared Bahay and Ian Espinosa combined for 24 points for the Katipunan-based squad. Captain Chris Koon delivered 10 in his last game in the Ateneo jersey. The Blue Eagles concluded the season with a 4-10 record.
Images courtesy of UAAP Media Bureau
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