Adamson University further boosted its Final Four bid after eliminating National University in a low-scoring affair, 53-41, in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
This gritty victory pushed the Soaring Falcons up to 5-7 at solo fifth and are just half a game behind the fourth-running University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers at 6-7. The two teams will clash in a game that would have Final Four implications on Saturday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
“Ang importante lang is buhay pa kami. That’s something we keep telling the players. Before the game, we told them about the alignment of stars. So, pumuporma pero if we don’t do our part, it will not happen. That’s the challenge we told them before the game,” said Adamson head coach Nash Racela.
Trailing by as much as 15 in the first half, 13-28, the Bulldogs came back thanks to a 15-3 run across the second and third periods to close in within 28-31 midway on a PJ Palacielo jumper.
However, what followed was a defensive masterclass for the Soaring Falcons.
Adamson held NU field goal-less in the next nine minutes, only allowing its foes to score on split free throws by Kenshin Padrones, Jolo Manansala, Steve Nash Enriquez, Tebol Garcia.
During that drought, the Bulldogs missed eight field goal attempts and committed three turnovers, while the Falcons made 15 points to erect a 46-32 lead before Jake Figueroa broke the spell for NU with a jump shot at the 5:26 mark of the fourth frame.
The Bulldogs were on course to score below 40 points for the first time in 13 years until Paul Francisco hit an inconsequential triple in the dwindling seconds. NU scored 39 points in a 22-point loss to Ateneo on Sept. 3, 2011.
AJ Fransman, a transferee from Enderun Colleges, fired a career-high 18 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out three assists.
“Tulad nga ng sabi ng coaches, pumapabor sa amin ‘yung games… the stars are aligned for us but we just have to do our part. We can only control kung anong nasa control namin so tinake to heart namin yun,” said Fransman, who was a plus-25 in his 22 minutes on the floor.
The Bulldogs’ rally late in the second round was not enough as they fell to 4-9 to end their Final Four streak of two seasons – both of which they ended in third place.
NU made seven and 10 three-pointers in their wins against University of the Philippines and UST, respectively, but was held to just 3-of-24 shooting from deep this time around.
Palacielo tallied 10 points and seven rebounds in the losing cause while Figueroa added eight points, three rebounds, and three assists.
NU will finish its campaign on Wednesday against De La Salle University at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The Scores:
AdU 53 – Fransman 18, Calisay 7, Erolon 6, Montebon 6, Yerro 3, Mantua 3, Anabo 2, Ronzone 2, Barasi 0, Ojarikre 0, Ignacio 0, Alexander 0, Barcelona 0, Dignadice 0, Ramos 0.
NU 41 – Palacielo 10, Figueroa 8, Santiago 5, Jumamoy 4, Padrones 4, Francisco 3, Enriquez 3, Manansala 3, Garcia 0, Yu 0, Lim 0, Tulabut 0, Dela Cruz 0, Parks 0.
Quarterscores: 18-7, 28-20, 39-31, 53-41