22 September 2018
By Niel Victor Masoy
Credit Ahanmisi for Adamson’s first win, Manganti for the second, but for this third one – the whole team deserves the credits.
That was the opinion of the Falcon’s head coach Franz Pumaren shortly after they won over a gritty UST Growling Tigers squad 79-71, in the UAAP Season 81 Men’s basketball Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
And it makes sense as his other players step upped when Adamson’s key cogs (other than Ahanmisi who scored 20 points) in Papi Sarr who played under the weather and Sean Manganti who has a mild sprained foot, struggled in the contest.
“One thing I can say is my bench players proved they are capable of stepping up,” Pumaren told reporters in a post-game interview.
“Papi is not 100%. He just played through his sickness. Same with Sean, his foot is bothering him. But in spite of them having a bad (game) because of various illnesses and injuries, I think this is one game that we were able to prove ourselves that we just play as a team.”
Sarr had only four points on 1-of-4 shooting, seven rebounds, and two turnovers in 20 minutes of play while Manganti went scoreless and churned out just one assist and one turnover in 16 minutes after a career-high 27 points in Adamson’s victory over the UE Red Warriors last Wednesday.
But guys like Vince Magbuhos, Jonathan Espeleta, Simon Camacho, Kristian Bernardo, and Jerom Lastimosa came to the rescue for the San Marcelino-based squad.
The rookie Magbuhos dropped 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, plus four steals, and one block, for good measure. Espeleta had 12 points, three assists, and a steal for a +13 rating, the highest for Adamson. Simon Camacho punched in nine points (3-of-5 shooting), eight boards, and three steals.
Big man Kristian Bernado scored seven points (five in the fourth) on 3-of-4 shooting, five rebounds, and two steals while Jerom Lastimosa scored just six points but was responsible for the biggest play for the Falcons as he drained a tough long-two jumpshot from the right wing to push Adamson’s lead to seven points (76-69) with 49 ticks left in the game.
His shot basically killed the hopes of UST for a one final push to come back.
“I guess, if you look at our team, except for one or two players, there are no really what you can consider a blue-chip rookie or an outstanding player,” Pumaren said.
“For us to be successful this year is to continue what we are doing. We just have to stay the course, stay within the system and our program. Probably we are successful at this stage because we play as one unit. No individual player can help us win games. It’s gonna be a team effort for us to beat the other teams.”
That team effort showed against UST where Adamson’s starters and bench players scored 39 and 40 points, respectively. But perhaps that team play was more evident on their defense as they pressed the Tigers the whole game and had the España-based squad commit a season-high 27 turnovers.
The Falcons scored 29 off of it.
Adamson now rises to a pristine 3-0 record.
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