By Jun Ray Navarres
By Jun Ray Navarres
Adamson University Soaring Falcons’ Vince Magbuhos stole the limelight with a buzzer beater three to hand Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles its second loss in the UAAP S86 Men’s Basketball earlier at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With only 3.3 seconds left in the overtime of the “Battle of the Skies”, the birthday boy Magbuhos delivered the biggest shot of his career, banking a three to overcome the Blue Eagles, 74-71.
“I just want to thank Lord. Nagpray ako kaninang umaga, hiniling ko sa kanya kung meron man siyang ibibigay na gift ay yung panalo na lang,” said Magbuhos.
After a 25-9 first quarter lead for Ateneo, the defending champions continued to rampage, widening the gap to as much as 19 before the half time.
Adamson managed to put up a fight, outscoring Ateneo in the third period 19-9 to bring the lead down to 5, 48-53 before the start of the final period.
Ateneo bounced back to bring the lead back up to 10 with Kai Ballungay’s three, 60-50. The combined effort of Eli Ramos and Matthew Montebon worked well for the Soaring Falcons to tie the game at 69, forcing an overtime.
This is Adamson’s second consecutive overtime after a 79-76 win over University of Santo Tomas last Wednesday which also went into extension.
“When our game went into overtime, I huddled the boys and I told them, we just came from an overtime game so we are more experienced than them,” said Adamson head coach Nash Racela.
Mason Amos who was clutch at the game versus archnemesis De La Salle University, failed to convert his free throws which was rebounded by Montebon.
Didap Hanapi struggled to inbound the ball for Adamson, but Magbuhos came to his rescue, leading to the game winning three. The final score was the only time the Falcons lead against the Eagles.
Magbuhos tallied 11 points, in 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, three assists, and one steal. Eli Ramos and Ced Manzano top-scored Adamson with 12 points each.
Adamson moved up to 2-1 while Ateneo dropped to 1-2 after their first loss to Adamson since 2018.
Featured image courtesy of UAAP
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