MANILA, Philippines – Adamson jumped the gun early en route to a 89-69 trumping of University of the East Saturday in the 75th UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Banking on Jericho Cruz’ first quarter explosion, the Falcons built an early cushion and sustained their steady shooting all game to grab their third win of the season.
Cruz, who was even nursing a fever, paced Adamson with 21 points — built around four treys — eight assists and a single steal.
“I’m happy to see him performing very consistently in the past few games,” said head coach Leo Austria for his emerging star guard.
Roider Cabrera lived up his his billing as a marksman, knocking down all his 15 points from downtown — along with five rebounds and three assists.
The Falcons also shot remarkably from the stripe — something which they have struggled with all season long.
Adamson posted a 21-point lead, the biggest of the the game, twice and never let the other Red Warriors come closer to single digits.
It was a clearly more superior performance for the Falcons, who had 29 assists compared to the Red Warriors nine.
Roi Sumang accounted for UE’s 24 points, along with eight rebounds and six assists but went scoreless in the payoff period when the Red Warriors badly needed a jolt.
Chris Javier scattered 18 points and 10 rebounds for the UE, which absorbed its second straight loss since beating Ateneo.