Fourth quarter surge helps Adamson keeps UP winless

MANILA, Philippines – Adamson flipped the switch early in the fourth quarter and pulled away with a 76-70 win over University of the Philippines Friday in the 2013 Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup.

After succumbing to the Maroons’ third quarter burst, the Falcons, though, just needed half a quarter to swing the game back to their favor, 68-60, with a numbing 14-1 run.

A 54-59 deficit at the end of third turned to a 74-64 lead – the biggest – for Adamson as it allowed UP to only score five points – all from the stripe – for an entire eight and half minutes.

“Our defense worked and they got the rotation right. They also have a sense of urgency,” said head coach Leo Austria in English and Filipino.

Rodney Brondial and Jericho Cruz took turns to help Adamson seize control in the fourth, finishing with 22 and 16 markers, respectively.

Ryan Monetclaro added 11 points built around three triples while Rios Jansen had 10. Ingrid Sewa, the Falcons’ burly Cameroonian chipped in six.

“I’m happy to see these three guys [Brondial, Cruz, Sewa] doing well. They’re the core. If there’s one of them who doesn’t perform, we will be put in a bind ,” said Austria.

The Falcons remained in contention for a quarterfinals slot in group A with a 4-2 card, while the Maroons remained winless at 0-6.

They had a good run to start the second half, but ran out of gas – the Maroons’ fourth quarter was a stark contract from their third, where they outscored the Falcons, 31-20.

UP’s first field goal of the fourth only came with 1:18 left to play, on an undergoal stab by Chris Ball, who chipped in 10 points along with Raul Soyud and Julius Wong.

Martin Pascual, who even gave the Maroons a 60-54 advantage before the Falcons’ pivotal run, led with 11.