Falcons deal Tigers' 1st loss

MANILA, Philippines -- The Adamson Soaring Falcons sent the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers back to earth after a 69-56 drubbing in their UAAP Season 87 matchup Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Adamson broke the game wide open in the third quarter and never looked back.

Monty Montebon led the flight for the Soaring Falcons with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. AJ Fransman and former UST Tiger Royce Mantua chipped in 11 apiece.

With UST leading by two, 37-35, in the third quarter after back-to-back shots by Nic Cabanero, Adamson ran away and unleashed 10 straight points to take a 45-37 lead.

A technical free throw by Kyle Paranada momentarily halted the run, but a 7-0 burst by Matty Erolon and Montebon pushed the lead to 17, 52-35.

The Tigers tried to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to just 12, 45-57, after a Christian Manaytay triple with 7:18 left.

However, a 12-2 run capped by a Joshua Yerro and-one putback gave the Soaring Falcons a 67-47 lead, the biggest of the game.

UST tried to mount a comeback, but it came a little too late.

“I’m happy with the effort that the players gave today. We outrebounded a big team like UST so it means that they put in the efforts today,” Adamson head coach Nash Racela said. 

“The last couple of days, we’re struggling with our focus. I didn’t really know how they will play today. They made our adjustments and played a lot better today,” he added. 

Cabanero finished with a game-high 16 points to go with five rebounds. He was the only player in double figures for the Espana-based squad.

Christian Manaytay added nine markers. Mo Tounkara only had seven points and five rebounds to go with four turnovers.

UST shot just 33.3% from the field on a 19-of-57 clip. On the other hand, Adamson made 26 of their 65 attempts for 40% shooting.

The two teams are now tied with 2-1 win-loss slates.