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[av_heading heading=’UP pulls another shocker to stun Adamson in UAAP’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons cruised to its second straight win in the UAAP 79 men’s seniors basketball tournament with a 70-66 victory over the Adamson University Falcons on Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Anton Manuel and Andres Desiderio led the way with 16 points apiece, while Juani Gomez de Llano added 13 markers for the Maroons, which moved up to solo sixth place in the standings with a 3-6 win-loss slate.
The Maroons took the early lead in the match behind Manuel and Desiderio but the Falcons turned things around for an 18-8 edge behind eight straight points by Nicholas Paranada.
The Maroons, however, responded with its own rally in the second frame on three-pointers by Desiderio and Gomez de Llano to tie the score at 29-all. A split from the line by Angelo Vito gave the Maroons a 30-29 halftime lead.
The Maroons continued its surge in the third frame as it opened a 39-31 edge behind Gomez de Llano, Manuel and Andrew Harris. After the Falcons cut the deficit to 39-35, the Maroons pulled away anew at 50-40 behind Manuel and Dave Moralde.
The Maroons was able to maintain its hot shooting in the fourth frame as it widened the lead to its largest at 65-54 on a triple by Gomez de Llano, but the Falcons made its last push to come to within 65-61 on a triple by Robbie Manalang.
The Falcons threatened further with two free throws from Shawn Manganti, but back-to-back baskets from Desiderio and Manuel extended the Maroons’ lead to 69-63 with just 11 seconds remaining on the match.
“It was our defense that made it happen for us,” said Maroons head coach Dolreich Perasol. “We were better than our 1-6 record before. We were able to get that composure in the end, we held our own.”
Cameroonian import Papi Sarr led the way with double-double 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Manalang added 10 markers for the Falcons (4-5), whose star guard Jerrick Ahanmisi was held scoreless./PN
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