SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – Cedrick Manzano stepped up big and delivered when it counted the most as the undermanned Adamson Soaring Falcons eked out a 56-55 escape over the UST Growling Tigers in the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, November 5.
After being down by as many as 19 points, 28-47, in the third quarter, the Soaring Falcons completed the huge come-from-behind win, thanks to the heroics of Manzano, who delivered the game-winning three-point play with 7.1 seconds remaining.
Playing without their star point guard Jerom Lastimosa, who dislocated his right foot in their previous game against the UP Fighting Maroons, and sharpshooting forward Vince Magbuhos due to a right knee injury, Manzano carried the scoring cudgels for the Soaring Falcons with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, together with 10 rebounds.
Foreign student-athlete Lenda Douanga, meanwhile, had a near double-double performance of 9 points and 12 rebounds for Adamson, which quickly returned to the win column after last Wednesday’s loss to the Fighting Maroons and moved up to 4-5 in the standings.
Adamson unleashed a 20-3 run towards the end of the third quarter and early in the fourth frame to cut UST’s 19-point lead to just 2, 48-50, off a Jed Colonia basket with 6:11 to play.
Still trailing by 2 points, 53-55, with less than 10 seconds remaining, Manzano then completed on the crucial and-one play off an inbound pass by Joaquin Jaymalin coming from a timeout.
UST had a chance to steal the lead back and win the ball game in the final possession, but Jamba Garing missed on his up-and-under attempt from baseline as time expired.
“What you call that is finding a way to win,” said Adamson head coach Nash Racela in Filipino.
“We didn’t have anywhere to go, UST played with a lot of confidence today, I give credit to them,” added Racela as the Soaring Falcons missed the 17 points per outing of Lastimosa in their escape of the Growling Tigers.
High-scoring forward Nic Cabañero dropped a game-high 22 points, including 9 in their fiery third-quarter blast, but was held scoreless in the payoff period as the Growling Tigers dropped their eighth straight outing and slipped further to 1-8.
Adamson aims to improve further its Final Four chances when it collides with the La Salle Green Archers after the two-week FIBA break on Thursday, November 17 at 11 am, while UST hopes to bounce back from its disappointing loss when it challenges the Ateneo Blue Eagles on the same day at 6:30 pm.
The Scores
Adamson 56 – Manzano 19, Douanga 9, Torres 8, Jaymalin 6, Sabandal 4, Colonia 4, Barasi 4, Yerro 2, Hanapi 0, Flowers 0, Fuentebella 0, W. Magbuhos 0.
UST 55 – Cabanero 22, Pangilinan 9, Manaytay 6, Manalang 5, Garing 5, Faye 3, Calimag 3, Duremdes 2, Lazarte 0, Gesalem 0, Mantua 0, Herrera 0, Escobido 0.
Quarters: 11-17, 19-31, 40-50, 56-55.
– Rappler.com
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