MANILA, Philippines –  It was almost a year ago when Adamson’s Sean Manganti shattered the hearts of the University of the Philippines (UP). 

But apparently he isn’t done as Manganti again knocked in the game-winner with just a fraction of a second left to lift the Falcons past the Maroons in the UAAP.

“I’m happy I made the shot. I was struggling on defense a little bit. I’m glad that we were able to close it out,” said Manganti after the thriller that kept the Falcons solo on top at 4-0.

Last season, Adamson also edged out UP in another nail-biter with Manganti sinking the game-winning putback, 73-71, last October 4, 2017.

And it was the same composure that Manganti showed this season.

After UP’s Bright Akhuetie made a putback off Paul Desiderio’s miss, the Falcons mapped out their final play with Manganti feeding the ball to Papi Sarr for a bucket underneath.  

However, the Adamson center fumbled with the leather which led to Manganti making the save and the game-winning hook shot. 

“It was a scramble at that point,” recalled Manganti of the last 5.7 seconds of play. “I was telling myself not to quit until the buzzer sounded, so we just had to keep going.”  

Although Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren wasn’t exactly happy with their sluggish start, he heaped praises on captain Manganti and the rest of the team for responding well during the cardiac fourth quarter. 

“I guess slowly our composure is getting there. Our poise down the stretch is there. Probably the old Adamson, when they’re down by eight or 10 points heading into the four, five minutes, that 10 points will balloon to a bigger lead,” explained Pumaren.

“But this time around we kept our composure, which is a trademark of accepting their respective roles, accepting that it’s high time somebody should assume responsibility down the stretch.” 

Manganti led the Falcons with 18 points but noted that he has yet to play consistently this season.

Last week, the Filipino-American unloaded a career-high of 27 points against University of the East but then wound up with a scoreless output in the next game against the University of Santo Tomas. 

Although Manganti is still recovering from a toe injury, he doesn’t see it as an excuse. 

“Individually I just wanna be consistent, I wanna help carry the team,” said the Adamson team captain. – Rappler.com