Adamson thwarts UST, strengthens hold on third seed

FILE — Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Adamson U tightened its grip on the third seed and knocked down University of Santo Tomas, 75-70, in the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tournament Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.

The Soaring Falcons bumped their record to 7-4 behind La Salle to also keep their chance for a twice-to-beat edge while the Growling Tigers saw their losing streak extend to an historic eleven straight games.

Jerrick Ahanmisi was cold-blooded for Adamson down the stretch, hitting a floater with 54.3 seconds left to give the Falcons a 70-66 lead and nailing the two charities for the game’s final score line.

Carlos Escalambre managed to give UST a final gasp of life with a triple with 14 seconds left that cut the deficit to three, 73-70, before Ahanmisi put the game away.

Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren was aware of the huge disparity between the two teams’ rankings and he expected a better showing from his group.

Unfortunately for Pumaren, what he saw was the complete opposite of what he expected.

“I was so disappointed, but you know these guys are trying to level down because probably their mindset going into this game was that UST is winless so they thought those players would just lie down,” said Pumaren.

“It’s not that we’re going to cruise along but at least with this victory we have a hold of third place.”

Ahanmisi finished with a game-high 21 points while Papi Sarr held the fort in the paint with 12 points and 14 boards.

Regie Basibas led UST in scoring with 17 points while Jeepy Faundo and Steve Akomo put up respective double-doubles.

Faundo had 12 points and 12 boards while Akomo put up 10 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.