UAAP: Adamson leans on hot start to withstand late rally by UE

MANILA, Philippines — Adamson squandered its huge lead, but salvaged a 78-71 victory over University of the East Wednesday in the UAAP season 76 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Falcons rode on their hot start courtesy of Roider Cabrera, giving them a big enough buffer to withstand a fiery rally by the Red Warriors in the payoff period.

Its 30-point cushion — Adamson’s biggest — was trimmed down to just seven with under a minute to play — as the Falcons were held spellbound in the last 4:45 of the game.

“If not for that 30-point lead, this victory wouldn’t be possible. That lead wouldn’t have ballooned if not for the players’ efforts,” said head coach Leo Austria in Filipino.

Cabrera uncorked all of his 19 points in the first half — built around five triples — but went 0-of-7 from down town in the second half.

Adamson’s last basket was courtesy of Harry Petilos, 78-61, before UE earned six of their next 10 unanswered markers from the stripe.

“There’s no safe lead. I always expect that we could collapse, since they know our weakness,” Austria admitted.

Ingrid Sewa punched in 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, Jericho Cruz added 10 but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Rodney Brondial had six points and 11 boards, three blocks including a huge one with 12 seconds left which quashed any hopes for UE.

The Warriors’ go-to guy Roi Sumang, not surprisingly, took charge down the stretch as he unleashed 12 points in his squad’s 26-10 run the fourth.

Sumang wound up with 26 points, Lord Casajeros had 14 while Charles Mammie finished with nine points and 14 boards.