UAAP: In a career night, Jerom Lastimosa’s crucial assists makes even bigger impact

Adamson guard Jerom Lastimosa during a game against La Salle in the UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball tournament. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Jerom Lastimosa unleashed a career-high 29 points but he remained unselfish when it mattered most, making the crucial passes to his teammates in the confidence-boosting victory for the Adamson Falcons.

Adamson stunned La Salle in overtime, 86-84, to boost its semifinal chances and wrap up its UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball tournament first round campaign on a strong note Saturday at Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Lastimosa may be the Falcons’ offensive option but his unwavering trust in his teammates was the key to their big win against one of this season’s contenders.

Adamson coach Nash Racela lauded his star’s decision-making that led to a clutch triple by Vince Magbuhos in overtime and the game-tying trey by Lenda Douanga in the final seconds at 79-all to force an extra regulation.

“It’s nice that Jerom made that pass to him (Douanga). Because previously, he was forcing a lot of possessions, while his other teammates were open. All he needed to do was just really give up the ball. It’s nice that he gave the ball in the last (possession) that’s why Lenda shot the ball,” said Racela.

Lastimosa, who scored nine of his 29 points in the fourth and had eight assists and six rebounds, said his coach wanted him to give up the ball for his teammates to make the crucial shots. And Douanga and Magbuhos repaid his trust with their big shots that pushed Adamson back in the top four race tied with La Salle at 3-4.

Adamson Soaring Falcons in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

“As coach said, I have to give up the ball because my teammates were open. So I did it in a crucial situation,” said Lastimosa in Filipino. “I know that this game is important for us. We thought that if we could win this game, we will climb in the standings.”

The Falcons’ court general is happy to see that they have learned their lesson from their overtime loss to University of the Philippines last month, making better decisions in crunch time to arrest a two-game skid from losses to National University and Ateneo.

“I had a flashback of our overtime loss to UP. But I’m glad we learned our lesson. In our second overtime today, no one from our team gave up,” Lastimosa said.

Despite a successful first round for the Falcons, Racela expects a tougher second-round competition.

“It’s very big because it just gives us a better chance. Just a better chance moving forward because if we lose, we will have a hard time climbing,” the Adamson coach said. “We don’t really expect a smooth-sailing round. We know it’s hard but we’ll just play it as it comes. It’s nice that we were able to just recover today.”