Adamson soars to second win in a row
THE Adamson Soaring Falcons stayed unbeaten early in Season 81 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, racing to their second win in as many games with a victory over the University of the East Red Warriors, 90-76, on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Anchored on a balanced attack, the Falcons proved themselves hard to keep in step with as they outlasted the Warriors to improve to 2-0 in the ongoing UAAP tournament while sending UE (0-2) to its second defeat.
The two teams had it tight to start the opening quarter, going on runs and counter-runs.
Adamson held a 12-8 lead midway into the first frame before going on a 7-2 run to build a 19-10 lead with three minutes remaining.
But UE would recalibrate, going on an 8-0 blast of its own in the wind-up to come within one point, 19-18.
When the opening quarter smoke cleared though, the Falcons stayed ahead, 23-18.
In the second quarter, the Warriors started in with flurry, led by veteran Alvin Pasaol.
UE opened with a 6-0 run to overtake Adamson, 24-23, at the 8:24 mark of the canto, extending it to a three-point cushion, 26-23, a minute later.
Adamson soared back in the next two minutes behind Papi Sarr and Jerrick Ahanmisi, reclaiming the lead, 30-28, with 5:02 left on the clock.
Having regained their footing, the Falcons lorded it over the Warriors after, scoring 12 straight points to stretch their lead to 42-28 with a little over a minute left.
Four points from UE for the remainder of the period helped narrow its deficit by the halftime break, 42-32.
The Falcons maintained their solid form to start the third period, opening things with an 8-4 run to build a 50-36 advantage after three minutes.
But Pasaol And Company rallied back with eight straight points to cut Adamson’s lead to just six, 50-44, at the 4:56 mark.
Falcons captain Sean Manganti would rack up seven straight points in the next minute to give his team a 13-point lead, 57-44.
The team would use it as a springboard to create far wider distance, a 20-point separation, 67-47, with one minute and a half left in the quarter.
The count stood at 67-52 with the Falcons on top heading into the fourth quarter.
Pasaol tried to tow the Warriors back to begin the payoff quarter, with his team coming to within 11 points, 69-58, with 8:05 to go.
Much like the case throughout the game however, Adamson would find ways to separate itself amid its opponent’s resilient fight-backs.
The Falcons held a 77-64 lead with five minutes to go in the game then stretched it to 84-66 with 2:44 left, before making their descent and bringing home the win.
Manganti led Adamson with a career-high 27 points followed by Ahanmisi with 17.
Sarr had solid double-double of 15 points and 21 rebounds.
Pasaol, meanwhile, paced UE with 36 points with Jason Strait adding 10 points.
“UE is not a bad team. We kind of relaxed a bit there in the game but we were able to recover,” said Manganti, named player of the game, after their win.
Adamson next plays on Sept. 22 against University of Santo Tomas (1-1) while UE collides with De La Salle University (0-1), which had a game later yesterday, on Sept. 23.