JEROM Lastimosa strapped Adamson on his back and anchored it to a huge 86-84 overtime stunner over La Salle Saturday in the UAAP Season 85 men's basketball tournament at Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Adamson vs La Salle recap
The point guard extraordinnaire put up a career-best 29 points, nine coming in the fourth-quarter fightback, to go with eight assists and six rebounds as the Soaring Falcons resuscitated their Final Four hopes to pull even with the Green Archers at 3-4.
With Adamson leading a precarious two-point lead, Lastimosa had a chance to ice the game but he missed his drive and Jed Colonia could not convert on his trey that gave La Salle one last shot in the last 8.2 seconds.
Evan Nelle, however, flubbed his runner as the Soaring Falcons escaped with the W.
Despite Lastimosa's superhuman effort, he didn't have to do it alone this time.
Lenda Douanga received a crucial assist from the Dumaguete-born guard and canned the booming three from the top of the arc with 6.0 seconds left in regulation that tied the game at 79 and sent the game to the extra period. He finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and two rejections.
Joshua Yerro also stepped up with 13 points, five boards, three assists, and three steals, as Cedrick Manzano stared at the La Salle frontline and put up 13 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
Even Vince Magbuhos drained two key treys, the last of which the go-ahead bucket that gave the Soaring Falcons the 86-84 lead in the final 1:52 before their defense pulled through late.
It's a confidence-boosting triumph for Adamson as it recovered from a furious third quarter rally from La Salle and crawled its way back from a 55-44 hole. The San Marcelino crew responded with its own 16-4 attack capped off by Lastimosa's three at the buzzer to take a 60-59 lead heading into the payoff period and set up the see-saw battle.
"It's nice that we were able to remind them, and it's nice that they were able to respond positively. That's how you win ball games," said coach Nash Racela, with the memories of Adamson's last overtime game against University of the Philippines still lingering on his mind.
"Every game, especially in this league, masikip at mahirap manalo. So every game will be tight and will be close. Today, we finally won a close game."
Kevin Quiambao topscored for La Salle with 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists, but the Taft side missed the presence of Schonny Winston and Michael Phillips in the crucial stages of the game as both suffered cramps.
Phillips got 19 points, nine boards, and two blocks, and Winston had 17 points, five rebounds, four steals, and three assists as the Green Archers dropped back-to-back games.
The Scores:
ADAMSON 86 -- Lastimosa 29, Douanga 13, Yerro 13, Manzano 13, V. Magbuhos 8, Jaymalin 4, Flowers 4, Sabandal 2, Colonia 0, Torres 0, Fuentebella 0, Barasi 0.
LA SALLE 84 -- Quiambao 20, M. Phillips 17, Winston 17, Austria 16, Nelle 9, Manuel 2, Cortez 2, Nonoy 1, B. Phillips 0, Abadam 0, Nwankwo 0, Macalalag 0.
Quarters: 18-18, 39-40, 60-59, 79-79, 86-84.
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