Blue Birds drop to duel for third

MANILA, Philippines –  The Philippines’ Ateneo-Adamson Blue Birds crashed out of the title picture of the 18th 3-D Gold Super Kung Sheung Cup after dropping an 85-91 setback to Southern California Fukienese Association (SCFA) in Saturday night’s semis in Hong Kong.

The loss to the taller and more athletic African-American crew of SCFA relegated the Phl Blue Birds to the battle for third against Hong Kong, the other losing semifinalist.

SCFA will dispute the crown with China’s Xin Cheng Holdings, which advanced after a 72-59 beating of the Hong Kong bets.

After falling behind by a mile through three quarters, the Blue Birds unleashed a spirited charge that enabled them to wipe out an 18-point deficit with still over two minutes left, according to Asia-basket.com.

High-flying Adamson stalwart Alex Nuyles shamed 6-7 Jerome Moton with a crowd-pleasing in-your-face slam dunk, igniting the fightback that was later joined in by Ateneo reliables Kirk Long and Nico Salva.

The SCFA cagers, however, hung tough in the endgame to escape with the six-point triumph.

Long led the way for the Blue Bird with 24 points, including key triples in the stretch while Nuyles and Salva shot 20 markers apiece.

Tarron “Baby Shaq” Williams, a 6-7, 115-kg behemoth who teamed up with 6’9 Robert Curtis in terrorizing the lane and giving SCFA leads of as many as 21 points in the third, shared scoring honors with David Kalb with 18.