Adamson University strengthened their hold to third place after they escaped University of Santo Tomas, 75-70 Wednesday in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Lifting their card to 7-4, the Soaring Falcons remains in third seed behind La Salle, while the hapless Growling Tigers are still winless as they suffered their 11th straight loss.
Jerrick Ahanmisi, who finished with a game-high 21 points, led Adamson claim victory after knocking down a floater in the last 54.3 ticks in the game to provide a 70-66 lead and provide two perfect freebies to cap off the game.
However, despite winning the match, coach Franz Pumaren admitted his disappointed over the performance of his team.
“It’s so hard to play a team like UST, since there is no more pressure on them and they’re just playing with a free flowing mind,” said Pumaren.
“Our mentality probably was we were playing a winless team, so it’s going to be easy sailing for us. But, we’re lucky we survived this game as we flirted with disaster.”
Papi Sarr had a double-double 12 points and 14 rebounds in the victory.
Meanwhile, UST, who shot 42 percent from the field compared to Adamson’s 37 percent, was not able to take full advantage of the game.
Regie Basibas stepped up for UST with 17 points as team captain Marvin Lee scored only three in the game.
Jeepy Faundo added 12 markers and 12 boards, while Steve Akomo hauled down 17 rebounds along with 10 points.
