By Waylon Galvez
Games Today
(Fil-Oil Flying V Center, San Juan City)
2 p.m. – UE vs UST
4 p.m. – Adamson vs UP
Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren expects another tight encounter as the Falcons take on the University of the Philippines Maroons today at the Fil-Oil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
“Of course, everyone knows how that game went down… It was a tough game,” Pumaren said. “It was a good win for us, the players showed great character and will to win despite the struggles.”
“But if we can avoid that – win another close game – if we can dictate it with the system we have, that’ll be good. But of course, we ready for anything against UP,” added Pumaren.
The game between Adamson (7-2) and UP (5-5) is scheduled at 4 p.m., right after the 2 p.m. match pitting University of Santo Tomas (4-5) and University of the East (1-9).
In their first meeting, Sean Manganti buried a tear drop shot with seven-tenths of a second left that powered the Falcons to a 69-68 victory last Sept. 26 at the same venue.
Adamson’s win was part of a five-game streak to start the season with an before Pumaren’s squad ended the opening round with back-to-back defeats.
Since then, however, Adamson has recovered with two straights wins, a 69-58 triumph over National University and a 57-50 victory opposite De La Salle last Oct. 20.
Adamson’s win opposite La Salle was its first under Pumaren as it snapped a 0-7 record, or since the former Green Archers champion coach took over for the Falcons in 2016.
In that game against La Salle, Manganti and Cameroonian center Papi Sarr both finished with double-double, as the latter had 19 points and 11 rebounds.
