MANILA, Philippines – The Adamson Falcons survived a furious fourth quarter rally from the UE Warriors and held back their foes, 78-71, to nail their second victory in Season 76 of the UAAP men's basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.
Roider Cabrera spearheaded the Falcons with 19 markers while Ingrid Sewa and Jericho Cruz added 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Despite leading comfortably after the first two quarters, Adamson coach Leo Austria reminded his wards not to be complacent and continue to keep their guard.
"I told the boys that our 25-point lead in the first half was nothing. I expected the rally and fortunately for us, we played well enough in the first half to have that huge lead and survive for the win," said Austria.
Adamson at one point held a humungous 55-25 lead early in the third quarter courtesy of Sewa's jumper at the 7:36 mark.
UE managed to cut the deficit to only seven for the final count with a 15-4 closing run, but fell short despite outscoring Adamson in the payoff period, 26-10.
"I need to stress to the boys that every possession is important. We need to be better because this year anybody can beat anybody," said Austria, whose Falcons came out firing in the first half to take a huge 50-25 upperhand at the break.
"I think the key to our win is on defense because if you look at their previous game, they had 71 points but only had eight assists. So we focused on our one-on-one defense," he added.
Roi Sumang paced the Warriors with a game-high 26 points while Lord Casajeros added 14 points.
"I have to give credit to Sumang. For me, right now he is the best point guard in the league," Austria said
Cabrera unleashed 19 first half points, including five triples, and Adamson also dominated the rebounding battle, pulling down 30 boards against UE’s 12.
The Falcons improved to 2-1 while the Warriors dropped to 1-2.