ADAMSON kept La Salle without a single field-goal in the first quarter as it cruised to a 57-50 victory in the second round of the UAAP Season 81 on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It was a slow start for the two squads which worked certainly towards the Falcons’ favor as they finished the first quarter with a 9-2 lead, with the Green Archers missing all their 19 shots in the first quarter.
It wasn’t until the 8:39 mark of the second until La Salle got its first field goal courtesy of Justin Baltazar, the time where the Falcons already built an 11-point lead.
The Green Archers, however, didn’t go down without a fight as they managed to trim the lead to just one point, 47-46, but Sean Manganti and Jerie Pingoy came up with back-to-back three pointers to restore order.
The win put Adamson temporarily on top of the standings with a 7-2 record, and gave Franz Pumaren his first win against his old squad after seven straight games of losing.
“Well, just like what I mentioned prior to this game, it just so happened that we are playing La Salle. We just treated this game as a game we needed to win to maintain our position now,” said Pumaren who played down his first win against the team he steered to five UAAP titles with.
“I guess what really transpired in this game is our defense. We showed today that we are able to control them,” he added.
Manganti led the way for the Falcons with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists while Papi Sarr had a huge double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The most glaring stat for the Falcons, however, came on the defensive end as they limited the Green Archers to just 26 percent shooting, making just 18 of their 69 attempts from the field. Limiting the usually hot-shooting squad to just two of 16 from the field in the third period.
Aljun Melecio led the way for the now 5-4 Green Archers with 18 points - though he needed 23 shots to get there.
The scores:
ADAMSON 57 – Manganti 19, Sarr 12, Ahanmisi 9, Pingoy 6, Camacho 4, Lastimosa 3, Magbuhos 2, Zaldivar 2, Catapusan 0, Mojica 0, Espeleta 0, Bernardo 0
LA SALLE 50 – Melecio 18, Serrano 10, Baltazar 6, Santillan 5, Montalbo 4, Dyke 4, Manuel 2, Caracut 1, Bates 0, Corteza 0
QUARTERS: 9-2, 28-21, 41-35, 57-50