MANILA, Philippines – Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren still likes their chances against University of the Philippine despite losing their twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four round of the 81st UAAP men’s basketball tournament.
The Soaring Falcons failed to utilize their bonus after bowing to the resurging Fighting Maroons, 71-73, last Saturday.
“Do I look concerned, stress about it? But if you look at the stats, we’re 1-of-22 (from the three-point area) but we almost won it,” said Pumaren.
“I guessed, we should have gotten the victory in spite of us playing bad. That’s a very good sign, we played bad, down the whole game but when we started playing the right system, right brand of game, we were able to get back and even take the lead,” he added.
Papi Sarr carried Adamson in that loss with 23 points and nine rebounds while Sean Manganti also had a solid 15-point game although he missed two crucial free throws in the closing minutes.
Jerrick Ahanmisi was the missing factor in the Soaring Falcons as he finished with just nine points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field, including a 1-of-8 stint from the rainbow territory.
Pumaren said Ahanmisi was clearly not 100 percent yet after suffering tonsillitis.
“If you’re coming from a flu or tonsillitis, it’s really hard to get your rhythm back,” said Pumaren.
Luckily for the Falcons, they have one more chance to end their finals drought on Wednesday.
And hopefully, Ahanmisi gets his old self back to help his school return to the finals after 16 years.