JOEM Sabandal delivered the finishing blows as Adamson took down University of the Philippines, 71-64, in wire-to-wire fashion on Sunday in the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup in San Juan.
The incoming fourth-year guard scored five of his 14 points in the last 2:29 to douse the Fighting Maroons' rally. His trey at the 1:56 mark made it a 71-59 affair in favor of the Soaring Falcons.
Jerom Lastimosa contributed 14 points, four rebounds, and two steals, while AP Manlapaz got 13 to help halt Adamson's two-game skid. The Falcons finished the eliminations with a 5-3 (win-loss) record in Group A.
"It's always a bonus if they bring their A games every time, but that's not our expectation of our players. What we want is they bring stability on the floor, doing the right things, and making the right decisions," said coach Nash Racela.
Adamson got to a fast start, establishing a 32-18 second quarter lead which grew to 20, 46-26, after a Lastimosa layup. UP slowly chipped away at the lead but the closest it could get was within six.
Malick Diouf poured 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Fighting Maroons suffered their second straight loss to sink to 5-2.
The scores:
ADAMSON 71 - Lastimosa 14, Sabandal 14, Manlapaz 13, Manzano 8, V. Magbuhos 7, Flowers 5, Douanga 5, Hanapi 4, Colonia 1, Yerro 0, Barasi 0, Jaymalin 0, Erolon 0, Torres 0.
UP 64 - Diouf 15, Lucero 11, Tamayo 10, Fortea 9, Abadiano 8, Cagulangan 6, Alarcon 3, Torculas 2, Ramos 0, Catapusan 0.
Quarters: 18-14, 35-23, 61-46, 71-64.