After coming so close to stunning last season’s runner-up, Adamson looked capable of forging a breakthrough win soon.
So it came as a shock even for the Falcons to absorb a horrific 37-point whipping on a record-low scoring production in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament.
“It was like everyone just went off at the same time,” said Adamson coach Kenneth Duremdes after his Falcons absorbed a woeful 25-62 shellacking from National University last Wednesday.
The lopsided loss came just four days after the Falcons nearly pulled off an upset, 49-50, over the University of Santo Tomas, a finalist in the last two seasons.
“We played flat from the start,” said Duremdes. “We executed our plays, but we just couldn’t buy a basket.”
The Falcons’ miserable 25-point total was one of the lowest productions in decades since University of the Philippines produced only 19 points against Far Eastern University’s 31 on Aug. 4, 1946. In recent years, the lowest score recorded was 39 set by UP and National University in 2011.
“We have to consider that these players are young,” Duremdes said of his rebuilding Falcons, who have the most number of rookies this season at 11. “When they started missing their open shots, their confidence and defense were affected.”
The Falcons shot a terrible 9-of-57 from the field and scored no more than eight points in any of the four quarters.
In the first period, the Falcons could only come up with three points, the lowest scored by a team in a quarter since the Bulldogs had the same woeful output against Ateneo in 2009.
But Duremdes, who has yet to win in four games with the Falcons, took the blame for the game they’d rather forget.
“Our players are young so they easily get affected,” said Duremdes, who’s assisted by fellow former PBA superstars Marlou Aquino and Vince Hizon. “It’s our job as coaches to motivate the players.”
Duremdes, the former King Falcon and PBA MVP, still believes in his team’s talent as they tackle their last three assignments in the first round.
“After this loss, I hope we respond well,” he said. “It’s really a learning process.”
But Duremdes certainly hopes it won’t be a long one.