Just like old times

Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

COACH Franz Pumaren had dealt Ateneo many heartbreaks in seasons past. So when he handed the Blue Eagles another one yesterday—but this time as Adamson’s new mentor—everything felt quite familiar.

“It’s quite the usual,” said Pumaren, who had tormented the Blue Eagles for over a decade as head coach of La Salle, which he steered to four straight UAAP men’s basketball championship starting in 1998, and again in 2007.

“There’s always the thing about the [Ateneo-La Salle] rivalry. I graduated from La Salle. It’s always fun playing against Ateneo.”

“We hung around, we didn’t quit,” Pumaren added after the Falcons stunned the Eagles, 62-61, on Dawn Ochea’s game-winning jumper with 1.9 seconds left.

“That’s the culture I’m trying to employ in Adamson right now—to make sure that we don’t drift away, that we just hang around, and down the stretch, we can pull off a good win.”

And the way Ochea confidently talked about his big basket—his lone shot of the game—also showed how much the Falcons had bought into Pumaren’s “culture.”

“We knew they’d be focused on Jerrick (Ahanmisi) and (Rob) Manalang because they’ve been scoring,” said Ochea, a former high school sensation from Cebu.

“They didn’t expect that someone from the bench will shoot. I was very confident of that shot.”

Adamson climbed to third with a 2-1 record and Pumaren gave the players all the credit.

“Dawn Ochea made me look like a coaching genius with that [last-second] substitution,” said Pumaren. “We had a practice game and we diagrammed the same play, but Dawn was gun-shy then. We were in that position already. He knows what to do and he nailed that magical shot.”

“I should really appreciate our players right now,” added Pumaren after the Falcons—who rallied from 10 points down in the final quarter—defeated the Eagles for the first time since 2011. “The old Adamson team would have folded up.”

University of Santo Tomas also refused to fold their season after a beating at the hands of La Salle and held off University of the Philippines, 83-77, in the other game.

The scores:

First Game

UST 83—Vigil 18, Basibas 11, De Guzman 11, Lao 10, Subido 10, Faundo 6, Lee 6, Sheriff 6, Huang 4, Afoakwah 1, Macasaet 0.
UP 77—Manuel 19, Dario 14, Gomez de Liano 12, Desiderio 10, Webb 9, Romero 4, Espanola 3, Harris 3, Longa 2, Lao 1, Asilum 0, Jaboneta 0, Lim 0, Prado 0.
Quarters: 15-11, 34-34, 59-53, 83-77

Second Game

ADAMSON 62—Manalang 15, Ahanmisi 13, Sarr 13, Manganti 6, Espeleta 4, Mustre 4, Bernardo 3, Ochea 2, Tungcab 2, Camacho 0, Chua 0, Ng 0, Paranada 0, Pasturan 0.
ATENEO 61—Asistio 12, Porter 8, Ma. Nieto 7, Mi. Nieto 7, Tolentino 6, Ikeh 5, Mendoza 5, Verano 4, Wong 4, Ravena 3, Babilonia 0, Go 0.
Quarters: 21-15, 35-35, 46-56, 62-61