Strong second half performance carries Tigers past Falcons

UST forward Kevin Ferrer splits two Adamson defenders in the first half of their game on Saturday. (FCF / Ericka Alcantara)

It was a tale of two halves with Adamson University thoroughly dominating over University of Sto. Tomas in the first half before the latter mounted an unstoppable second half comeback thanks to strong showings by Jeric Teng and Kevin Ferrer.

The Growling Tigers claimed a 67-62 victory over the Falcons on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Siguro medyo gigil lang kami sa simula. Pero nung second half we picked up on our defense naman”, said Ferrer.

Ferrer, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, also added in 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Teng, on the other hand, registered 15 points along with 6 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Jericho Cruz, Ingrid Sewa, and Roider Cabrera led the way in terms of scoring for the Soaring Falcons. Cruz drained 15 points with 8 boards and 7 dimes. Sewa recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Cabrera drained 3 trifectas to score 11.

UST’s 16 turnovers can be attributed to Adamson’s rockhard defense in the first half, forcing the Growling Tigers to shoot most of their shots from beyond the arc.

The Espana-based squad managed to convert 28.6 % of their trifectas when compared to Adamson’s 25%. Moreover, UST managed to edge Adamson in terms of free throws, with UST draining 72.2% of their trips to the charity lane while Adamson converted 60% of their attempts. Moreover, Adamson thoroughly outrebounded UST, 52-39, with most of their boards coming from offensive rebounds thanks to a strong presence by Ingrid Sewa.

Adamson had an impressive start, with trailing UST the entire first half. Adamson used their transition offense, punishing UST on the break which lead to a 9-0 scoring run by the Falcons. Kevin Ferrer and Aljon Mariano then combined 5 points to momentarily stop the bleeding and cut Adamson’s lead to 4 at 15-11,  with only 2:42 left in the canto.

UST’s inability to stop Adamson’s offensive pace was the main reason why they remained behind even though they were constantly scoring. Sewa converted both of his free throws to give Adamson a double digit lead at 34-24 until Aljon Mariano slid in a layup to cut the lead to 8 right before half time.

Three back to back baskets in the third quarter along with a free throw conversion saw the Growling Tigers cut the lead down to 1 until Clark Bautista finally gives UST the lead at 39-38. Ferrer ended the quarter with a reverse layup after a trifecta by Roider Cabrera to keep UST on top at 45-41.

Adamson was slowly getting rattled by the fact that UST is starting to pull away. Kim Lo registered two straight baskets to give UST its biggest lead of the game at 55-43. Adamson’s Jericho Cruz scored 6 straight points along with a trifecta with only 30 seconds left in the game to cut UST’s lead down to just a single possession.

However, Teng answered back with a jumper of his own that placed Adamson in a rut. Mariano was fouled and missed both of his trips to the stripe, but recovered it to the delight of the UST fans to finish the game at 67-62.

BOX SCORES
SANTO TOMAS (67): Ferrer 17, Teng 15, Bautista 9, Mariano 8, Daquioag 7, Abdul 6, Lo 5, So 0, Sheriff 0, Pe 0, Hainga 0
ADAMSON (62): Cruz 15, Sewa 13, Cabrera 11, Brondial 9, Trollano 6, Julkipli 4, Petilos 3, Inigo 1, Rios 0, Monteclaro 0, Agustin 0
QUARTERS: 18-22, 26-34, 45-41, 67-62