Manganti tips in game-winner for Adamson to beat UP
By Maxine Louise Lagman
4 October 2017
With a second left on the clock, Sean Manganti tipped in the shot needed for Adamson University to pull away from the University of the Philippines, 73-71 on Wednesday in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Paul Desiderio knocked down a basket to knot the game at 71-all with only 22 seconds left in the game. Adamson went for Jerrick Ahanmisi and Papi Sarr to finish the game, but missed their opportunities to do so.
Luckily, Manganti tipped in a much needed shot with only 1.4 ticks left to lift Adamson and stopped Jun Manzo’s attempt to tie the match and capped off the win.
“We were lucky to win this game. The whole game, we were struggling, we had a bad start, we made a lot of mental mistakes and we were just going through the motions,” said Coach Franz Pumaren as Adamson trailed behind UP in the first half.
Adamson extended their win to three games and tied with Far Eastern University with a 4-2 card, while UP was handed their second consecutive loss to drop into the fifth place with a 3-3 record.
“I think it’s a good win and this game showed us that we can’t have a bad start and have lapses on defense,” added Pumaren. “This is a good test on our part that in the crucial moments of the game, we can survive a game like this.”
Ahanmisi finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, which is spiked by three triples, while Jerie Pingoy chipped in 10 markers.
Big man Sarr gobbled down 16 rebounds, along with six points, while Manganti and Manalang added eight points each in the win.
Paul Desiderio and Manzo paced the Fighting Maroons with 19 points each, while Javi Gomez De Liano finished with eight points and 14 rebounds.
