Pape Sarr came off the bench and scored 26 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in 33 minutes, but it was not enough to lift the AdU Soaring Falcons past the league-leading FEU Tamaraws in their contest earlier today at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Adamson led by as much as six, 56-50, with less than six minutes left to play, but the experience and veteran savvy of the Tamaraws proved to be too much. Despite FEU’s charge, Joseph Nalos refused to back down and gave Adamson its last taste of the lead, 58-57, after scoring off a drive with less than a minute left to play. After that, however, it was all FEU as Roger Pogoy found Mike Tolomia for a triple then the former hit two free throws to give them a four point lead. Sarr hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to pull Adamson within two points, but Mac Belo made two free throws on the other end to seal the win.
FEU closed the game with a 14-4 run en route to a 64-60 victory, their fifth in six games this UAAP season. On the other hand, today’s loss kept the Soaring Falcons winless over the same number of games this season.
Despite the disparity in the two teams’ performance in UAAP Season 78 thus far, it was a tightly contested match all throughout. FEU’s biggest lead of the match was 11 points after Escoto hit a jumper late in the second quarter, but Adamson closed the gap and tied the match by the midway point of the third period. Both teams then went back-and-forth until the thrilling finish which saw the Tamaraws come out on top.
The score was tied on five different occasions and the lead changed 11 times–a testament to the performance of the relentless Adamson side in a game which many believed was destined to become a blowout win by the Tamaraws.
Veteran forward Russel Escoto led the way for FEU with 11 points and two rebounds while the prolific duo of Belo and Tolomia added 10 points apiece off the bench. Belo also grabbed 10 rebounds while Tolomia collected six of his own.
On Adamson’s side, Sarr’s big performance, which was highlighted by his 12-of-16 shooting from the free throw line, went for naught in the loss. No other Soaring Falcon scored in double figures, but Joseph Nalos and Frederick Tungcab came close as the duo scored nine and seven points, respectively. Nalos also grabbed nine rebounds and handed out five assists, but he converted on just three of his 13 attempts from the field.
Both teams relied heavily on their bench players for scoring, with Adamson finishing with 45 points off the bench and FEU recording 38. The two squads also shot rather poorly from the field, with FEU making just 32 percent of its 70 field goal attempts while Adamson converted on just 26 percent of its 68 attempts.
None of the 12 Soaring Falcons fielded into the game recorded a field goal percentage better than 43 percent. On the other hand, Achie Inigo was the only Tamaraw who attempted more than three shots to finish with a field goal percentage higher than 50 percent.
Up next for FEU are the reigning UAAP champion NU Bulldogs whom they will face on October 7 at 4 pm in the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. After a slow start, NU has won its last three outings and this match-up between two title contenders will definitely be one to look out for.
Meanwhile, Adamson continues to chase after its first win this season and will close out its first round schedule on October 4 at 11 am against the slumping UP Fighting Maroons. The Fighting Maroons dropped their last three games after winning their first two outings of the season and both teams will be hungry for a much-needed win.
