ADAMSON dodged a late golden bullet from University of Santo Tomas, 79-76, for a thrilling overtime win in the UAAP Season 86 men's basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.
Adamson vs UST UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament recap
Joem Sabandal's late heroics, dishing out nine points, six assists, and four boards, enabled the Falcons to soar past the Tigers.
The hard-earned triumph draws Adamson level at 1-1 (win-loss) before taking on reigning champ Ateneo.
Meanwhile, UST's woes further pile up with a winless 0-2 slate ahead of its La Salle clash at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in three days' time.
Tied at 66-all with five seconds of regulation left, Joem Sabandal fired a pullaway dagger for Adamson shortly before UST's Nic Cabañero's clutch layup to force overtime.
From there, the Falcons' early seven-point blast in OT was negated by the Tigers' 8-2 counter-run which ultimately handed the win to the San Marcelino side.
“(The win was) very hard-earned, indeed,” Adamson head coach Nash Racela said. “I think we’re lucky that UST didn’t have its foreign student-athlete (Adama Faye) today because kung nandyan ‘yan, it would’ve been a different story.”
“It’s nice that we were able to grind it out today. I think this will be the story of the whole season for us. But if every game will be like this, okay lang,” Racela added.
Ced Manzano spearheaded Adamson’s resilient stand with 16 points and seven boards.
But the Tigers’ one-two punch of Migs Pangilinan (18 points) and Nic Cabanero (17 points) failed to land the finishing blow as Pido Jarencio’s second coming at España remains winless.
The scores:
AdU (79) – Manzano 16, Erolon 11, Sabandal 9, Magbuhos 7, Hanapi 7, Montebon 7, Calisay 6, Yerro 5, Barasi 3, Ojarikre 3, Barcelona 2, Canete 2, Ramos 1, Colonia 0.
UST (76) – Pangilinan 18, Cabañero 17, Crisostomo 10, Laure 8, Manaytay 7, Ventulan 6, Manalang 4, Gesalem 3, Lazarte 2, Duremdes 1, Llemit 0, Calum 0.
Quarterscores: 20-13; 40-36; 52-51; 68-68; 79-76.
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