La Salle squanders lead anew, but makes FTs to nip Adamson

MANILA, Philippines — In what could be the most controversial game of the season so far, De La Salle University narrowly escaped Adamson University, 70-67, in the 76th UAAP men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday, July 24 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Lloyd Abrigo turned from hero to zero for the Soaring Falcons after two crucial errors put to waste his 10-point effort in Adamson’s final quarter rally that wiped out a 15-point deficit.

Down 65-50 with 5:25 left, the Falcons launched a massive uprising behind Abrigo and Don Trollano to tie the game up at 65-all.

But Abrigo lost the ball with 36.2 seconds left and was whistled for a controversial unsportsmanlike foul in a box-out play against Norbert Torres less than 20 ticks before the buzzer. 

Jeron Teng and Torres capitalized on Abrigo’s blunders as they converted 5 of 6 free-throw attempts to hijack what could have been a thrilling Adamson comeback.

Even then, La Salle coach Juno Sauler wasn’t thrilled with his wards’ performance.

“I am not satisfied with how we finished this game. We definitely have to work on that end-game. We should learn how to play for 4 quarters,” he said.

True enough, the Archers opened with an 18-4 bomb and were poised to win this game easily, maintaining huge leads and bringing a 55-42 advantage into the final period. 

But the Falcons did like what they did to National University over the weekend and held La Salle scoreless for almost 5 minutes late in the 4th quarter to almost snatch the win.

Torres and rookie Jason Perkins led the Archers with 13 points each, with Perkins also hauling down 13 rebounds. Teng, Almond Vosotros and Arnold van Opstal added 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, Don Trollano top scored for Adamson with 14 poitns and 11 boards even as Jericho Cruz chipped in with 11 for the Falcons, who fell into a tie with La Salle for 3rd to 6th places with a 3-3 record. – Rappler.com