Baby Falcons stay on top, Tiger Cubs keep Final 4 hopes alive

Adamson boosted its Final Four bonus bid, while University of Santo Tomas pulled off a shocker to keep its semifinals hopes alive Tuesday in the UAAP juniors’ basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre.

Gerry Abadiano fired 18 points, Jason Celis added 12 points while Evan Agbong had 11 points and eight rebounds as the Baby Falcons routed De La Salle-Zobel, 78-51, to stay on top of the standings at 10-1.

The Tiger Cubs won back-to-back for the first time this season, ending the game with a telling 9-0 run to nip Far Eastern University-Diliman, 54-52, and dropping the Baby Tamaraws to third place.

FEU-Diliman’s stunning defeat allowed defending champion National University, which came away with a 107-56 winner over University of the East, to seize solo second.

John Lloyd Clemente came through with 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals while Rhayyan Amsali had a double-double effort of 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Bullpups improved to 9-2, a full game ahead of the Baby Tamaraws in the race for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.

SJ Belangel sizzled with 32 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while Dave Ildefonso contributed 20 points as Ateneo solidified its hold of the No. 4 slot with a 103-77 dismantling of UP Integrated School.

CJ Cansino had a solid 20-point outing as UST booked its fourth win in 11 matches in fifth place to bolster its slim Final Four aspirations.

The Tiger Cubs trail the Blue Eaglets (6-5) by two games in the race for the remaining semis berth at stake.

The Junior Archers and the Junior Maroons are on the brink of elimination with their eighth defeat in 11 starts, while the Junior Warriors fell at 1-10.