De La Salle University used a third quarter pullaway to pin down the lowly Adamson University, 67-48 in the continuation of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 77 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.

The defending champion De La Salle controlled the entire game against an Adamson team who comes off from a humiliating loss in its last game.

The Archers outscored the Falcons in all quarters except for the second period.

The win pushes De La Salle past the .500 mark with a 3-2 record, while sending Adamson falls down to 0-5 to share the cellar with University of the Philippines in the standings.

The Green Archers missed the services of their veteran big man Arnold van Opstal (achilles), Norbert Torres (sprained ankle) and guard Thomas Torres (fractured right ankle) due to injuries. Despite not having the intimidating post presence of van Opstal, they still managed to snag 46 rebounds – seven more than Adamson’s 39.

Coming up big for the Archers is Kib Montalbo, who put up huge numbers in the absence of Thomas Torres, scoring a career-high 18 points coupled with four dimes. Promising rookie Prince Rivero tallied 12 points along with six rebounds as he won his match up against Ivan Vllanueva of Adamson.

Meanwhile, the Falcons now dropped their fifth consecutive outing with their latest setback. This loss to the Archers marks another sub-par performance for the boys of Kenneth Duremdes. Just last Wednesday, the Soaring Falcons made history by scoring the lowest final game output after they finished with just 25 points against the National University Bulldogs.

But compared to their last previous loss, the Adamson Soaring Falcons negated the DLSU’s offensive firepower in the early parts of the game. They even managed to stay at bay against the Green Archers throughout the entire first half.

Jansen Rios led the Falcons with 11 points and 7 boards, followed by Alex Inigo and Ryan Monteclaro, both dropping 9 points for their team.