THE Adamson University continued to soar higher in the UAAP Men’s basketball tournament after beating the National University, 77-53 on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It was a tightly-close match in the first period of the game, but the Soaring Falcons outscored the Bulldogs in the second quarter, with big man Papi Sarr leading the Falcons and left the opponent with a big deficit, 21-6.
Adamson was able to establish a 35-19 advantage by the end of the first half and continued to run over the Bulldogs to stop them from taking the lead. By the last period, the Falcons continued their streak and led by as much as 30 points, leaving the Bulldogs breathless.
The Soaring Falcons improved to an 8-5 win-loss record and ties with the Far Eastern University at third place in the league standings. They are focused on winning against the second running Ateneo De Manila University on Wednesday to tie in the second seed in the Final Four.
After winning their fourth game in a row, the Adamson Soaring Falcons remains hopeful in their last game in the elimination round against Ateneo for the twice-to-beat advantage.
“We are aiming to get the tie and get the shot of gaining that twice-to-beat advantage. We just have to beat Ateneo and create some sort of a tie,” said Adamson Coach Franz Pumaren.
Sarr had a big comeback from his sloppy game against season’s host University of Santo Tomas with a double-double 22 points and 15 rebounds. Jonathan Espeleta added 15 points, three rebounds and four assists while Frederick Tungcab and Robbie Manalang had nine and eight points, respectively.
NU Bulldogs ended the season with their sixth consecutive loss in the tournament, settling for a 5-9 win-loss record, their worst record under NU Coach Eric Altamirano.
J-jay Alejandro still did his best and finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists while graduating Alfred Aroga finished his UAAP career with nine points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.
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