LA SALLE’S UAAP Season 88 Final Four odds took another hit, this time at the hands of ever-gutsy Adamson.
READ: Adamson further complicates playoff picture after frustrating La Salle
With the Soaring Falcons once again imposing their signature low-scoring match, the Green Archers were doing their darndest to erase a four-point deficit with three minutes left.
Heeding the call was co-captain Earl Abadam, who turned up at just the right time with a timely jumper to trail by two - even after shooting 0-for-9 prior that point.
Mathew Montebon responded for Adamson with two clutch baskets, but Jacob Cortez countered with a tough layup on his own.
After that, Abadam got his shining moment anew, getting the steal from the inbound and hitting a clutch stepback triple at the 27-second mark to cut the lead to one, 60-61.
La Salle then got another defensive stop, giving it a golden opportunity to steal the win and saw Pablo pass off the ball to Abadam ahead in a three-on-two fastbreak.
Instead of going hard to the ring, the Green Archers' skipper decided to stop from the same spot he hit the trey from. This time, though, the ball hit back iron.
The win was the Soaring Falcons'.
The green-and-white had 6.2 seconds to go on the clock when the fastbreak was on, and the missed game-winning triple clanked with 3.5 seconds still in play.
So why did Abadam opt for the three?
According to the Fil-Aussie forward, the goal was to win by any means.
“We knew that we wanted to press up, but we knew that we wanted to just try to force the ball out of their hands. Ultimately, what was going through our minds was just to win. Just win. We wanna get this ball game, and no matter what it takes, we just wanna get it,” he told SPIN.ph.
“I was able to get steal, get that shot, but ultimately, I didn't make that last shot at the end. It is what it is. I know that I just made a shot, so I was confident enough to take it again.”
“All I know is I work on these shots. There is no hesitation on my part. Sometimes it just doesn’t go in. I have to come back prepared, but that doesn’t shake my mental.”
Abadam's bad call?
Though Abadam had a nightmare shooting night before his two-way heroics during crunch time, at no point during the game did he hesitate to let his shots fly.
“All I know is I work on these shots,” he said in confidence. “I know I’ve worked for those shots, so I’m gonna come back next game ready and prepared for what the coaches want me to do.”
And even if they missed the opportunity to eliminate Adamson and deduct a team in the running for the fourth playoff spot, the 21-year-old co-captain won’t allow this loss to shake the locker room.
As he put it, “Siyempre mabigat, but our season doesn't end here. We still have two more big games. So again, we come back to practice tomorrow, come back with that next game, even more prepared than we were.”
“It feels hard on my part, but we know that we’re down, but we’re not out. It’s something we haven’t not gone through before. We’re still learning to get over that hump. But the last two games are something that we have to really be prepared for.”
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