Adamson University hammered out a wire-to-wire 74-59 win over La Salle-Zobel to secure the twice-to-beat slot in the Final Four of the UAAP Season 86 high school boys basketball tournament Sunday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
Justine Garcia had a solid all-around game of 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals while JC Bonzalida also shot 14 points and grabbed 13 boards as the Baby Falcons remained on top of the standings with a 11-1 record.
National University Nazareth School kept within reach of Adamson and bagged the remaining twice-to-beat slot in the Final Four with a 90-65 dismantling of UP Integrated School.
In other games, defending champion Far Eastern University-Diliman pulled off a 67-65 win over Ateneo, while University of the East kept its slim Final Four hopes alive with a 76-73 conquest of University of Santo Tomas.
The Baby Falcons took advantage of the absence of top Junior Archers ace Kieffer Alas, who was in street clothes.
“Actually we prepared for La Salle-Zobel, hindi naman si Alas. Ang sabi ko, it’s gonna be harder to defeat Zobel because we don’t know who will gonna take the shot,” said Adamson coach Mike Fermin.
Nigeria’s Collins Akowe was at his usual best with 19 points and 20 rebounds as the Bullpups chalked up their 10th win in 12 games.
