ADAMSON pulled off the biggest stunner in the opening weekend of the UAAP Season 81 men's basketball tournament, knocking down defending champion and hands-down favorite Ateneo, 74-70, on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Papi Sarr scored the go-ahead putback off of a missed three from Sean Manganti to put the Soaring Falcons ahead, 72-70 with 39.4 seconds left before Thirdy Ravena bricked a triple on the other end that virtually took the life out of the Blue Eagles.
Manganti canned two more free throws to make it a four-point game in the last 13.5 seconds before Ravena missed another trey just as time expired.
Jerrick Ahanmisi powered Adamson with 23 points and four rebounds, while rookie Vince Magbuhos made a strong imprint late with his double-double of 10 points and 10 boards.
Jerom Lastimosa, though, was the one to inject energy for the Soaring Falcons, dropping six of his points in the team's confidence-boosting 11-0 spurt to end the first half to claw back from an 11-point deficit and take a slim 40-39 halftime lead.
That run buoyed Adamson's superb third-quarter assault that gave them a seven-point advantage, 55-48 before holding off the Blue Eagles in the payoff period and shocking the presumptive title favorites.
Sarr wound up with eight points and nine rebounds, as CJ Catapusan and Jonathan Espeleta both got seven.
"Kudos to my coaching staff as they did a splendid job scouting Ateneo and my players for following instructions," said coach Franz Pumaren.
Adamson survived a feisty Matt Nieto-led fightback for Ateneo as the lead guard dropped 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, alongside four rebounds and two steals.
Raffy Verano had 10 points and eight boards, while Ravena shot 3-of-12 from the field to settle for seven in the defeat.
The scores:
ADAMSON 74 – Ahanmisi 23, V. Magbuhos 10, Sarr 8, Espeleta 7, Catapusan 7, Lastimosa 6, Manganti 4, Pingoy 3, Mojica 3, Camacho 2, Colonia 1, Bernardo 0.
ATENEO 70 – Ma. Nieto 21, Verano 10, Ravena 7, Asistio 7, Go 6, Mendoza 5, Navarro 5, Black 4, Mi. Nieto 4, Kouame 1, Wong 0, Tio 0, Belangel 0.
Quarters: 18-20, 40-39, 55-51, 74-70.
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