By Jun Ray Navarres
Joshua Yerro soared for the alley-oop with only 0.3 on the clock to lift Adamson University over National University, 60-58 in the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Basketball tournament, Wednesday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
In spite of the consecutive errors in the previous inbound plays, John Calisay lobbed a perfect pass to the rolling Yerro to touch the ball enough for the remaining time and score the game-winning basket.
“It was Coach Gilbert Lao who drew that play so that’s the dynamics of our coaching staff. Actually, when we were playing defense, we were hoping that if ever they make a basket we still have time so Coach Gilbert (Lao) was already preparing for that,” said head coach Nash Racela.
Still trailing 56-50 with 1:40 to go, Jake Figueroa cut the lead with a running scoop lay-up. PJ Palacielo, Jolo Manansala, and Reinhard Jumamoy collaborated to tie the game at 56 with 34.6 left on the clock.
Yerro posted up against Jumamoy but released a quick shot after looking at the game clock. Ced Manzano skied for the missed shot and dropped a protected shot to regain the lead, 58-56 with only 3.3 seconds left.
NU’s hottest guy on the floor Ian Manansala received the inbound after the time out and jumped over three Soaring Falcons players to sink the game tying jumper.
After the review, there still remained 0.3 sec on the clock which is enough for Yerro to finish the night.
“Masaya kasi pumasok. Thank God, dahil sa Kanya kaya pumasok. Before pa lang, nagtime out, sabi ni Coach Gilbert na stay lang kami kasi baka magextra five minutes. Pero sabi ko kay Calisay, wala nang five minutes ‘to. Tiwala ka lang, papasok ‘to,” he said after finishing with 11 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
Matthew Montebon joined Yerro for double digit scoring of 15 points while AJ Fransman finished with eight.
On the other hand, Manansala tapped for 15 points, nine rebounds while Figueroa added 11 baskets and Kenshin Padrones contributed 10.
The win lifted Adamson past their slump while NU skidded to three consecutive losses.
Images courtesy of UAAP Media Bureau
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