by Waylon Galvez
Games Saturday
2 p.m. – La Salle vs UST
4 p.m. – NU vs UP
Adamson University survived a late rally by University of the Philippines to complete an 80-72 victory last night in the 81st UAAP men’s basketball at the Fil-Oil Flying V Center, San Juan City.
The Falcons led by as many as 26 points, 67-41, with 1:06 left in the third period, but the Maroons unloaded a 24-2 bomb to get back into the contest, 69-65, with 2:52 left.
Adamson’s win improved its second best record to 8-2, and more importantly, pushed the team one victory away from advancing to the Final Four for the third straight season.
“Down the stretch, we have to rely on key plays. It just shows that the qualities of our veterans. Despite the run they made, we were able to keep it together,” Pumaren said.
“We had a lot of lapses down the stretch. They thought that UP would go down easily. We just have to be consistent on the defensive end until the final buzzer,” added Pumaren.
In the other game, University of Santo Tomas bounced back with a 79-68 win over University of the East.
UST team captain Marvin Lee exploded with a career-best 30 points, rookie guard CJ Cansino had his first career triple double with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, while Zach Huang added 14 points.
UST’s victory improved its record to 5-5, just one game behind current third placer De La Salle, which carries a 6-4 slate, behind defending champion Ateneo (9-2) and Adamson (7-2).
The scores:
UST 79 – Lee 30, Cansino 20, Huang 14, Bataller 4, Bonleon 4, Agustin 2, Mahinay 2, Zamora 1, Marcos 0, Consejo 0.
UE 68 – Pasaol 26, Manalang 15, Conner 12, Bartolome 6, Varilla 4, Strait 3, Lacap 2, Guion 0, Beltran 0.
Quarters: 17-19; 39-33; 59-49; 79-68.
ADAMSON 80 – Ahanmisi 24, Lastimosa 14, Sarr 12, Manganti 10, Catapusan 5, V. Magbuhos 4, Pingoy 3, Camacho 3, Mojica 3, Bernardo 2, Zaldivar 0.
UP 72 – Akhuetie 24, Ju. Gomez de Liaño 15, Desiderio 13, Manzo 8, Ja. Gomez de Liaño 5, Vito 5, Jaboneta 2, Lim 0, Dario 0, Prado 0, Gozum 0.
Quarters: 12-12; 34-26; 67-48; 80-72.
