Games on Sunday (Filoil EcoOil Centre)
10 a.m. – ADU vs UP (JHS)
12 p.m. – Ateneo vs NUNS (JHS)
2 p.m. – DLSZ vs UST (JHS)
4 p.m. – UE vs FEU-D (JHS)
Adamson University forced a playoff for the last semifinals ticket by dismantling Ateneo de Manila University, 69-55, in the final game of the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Basketball elimination round on Saturday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
The Soaring Falcons finished the eliminations at 6-8, tied with the UE Red Warriors to forge a playoff on Wednesday, 56:30 p.m., at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Winner of their matchup will face the top-seeded De La Salle Green Archers in the Final Four.
Adamson won three of its last four games while UE lost its final five games of the second round.
This position was all too familiar for the Soaring Falcons, having been in the playoff for that no. 4 spot in the last two seasons, losing to the Blue Eagles in Season 86 while beating the Green Archers in Season 85.
“We’re willing to do that every year if that’s our shot to make it to the Final Four,” said Adamson head coach Nash Racela on going through the long route just to get a semis spot.
“It’s our defense. Sabi nga namin it’s our ticket to being competitive as a team which we missed the last time we played UST. We went back to our old ways today,” he continued.
Andrew Bongo tried to put some life in the Blue Eagles in the fourth frame, draining a three-pointer with 6:40 left to cut their deficit within single digit, 49-58.
But the Soaring Falcons, motivated as ever, responded with two treys courtesy of Joshua Yerro and Manu Anabo to restore their cushion to 15, 64-49, with 4:55 remaining.
Royce Mantua delivered an almost flawless game, going 7-of-8 from the field to lead Adamson with 14 points and being a plus-17 in his 17 minutes and 35 seconds on the floor.
“We all know that this is gonna be our final chance to compete in the Final Four so we all really have to play our A-game and my shots came knocking down. I’m very happy we all played each other’s parts really well especially on defense,” said Mantua, a transferee from UST.
Anabo, who was just averaging a meager 3.15 points in the first 13 games, became a revelation with 13 points on three made triples, while Matt Erolon made three three-pointers as well on his way to 11 points he laced with four assists and three rebounds.
The contributions from Mantua and Anabo were much-needed as AJ Fransman and Mathew Montebon struggled.
Fransman went 3-of-11 from the field for just eight points, while Montebon was held scoreless, missing all of his three shot attempts.
Fifth-year player Jhon Calisay hit the showers early after being ejected with 31.3 seconds remaining in the second quarters due to him incurring two technical fouls. He was first slapped with a tech for taunting due to his celebration after making a shot before being called for delaying the game.
The Blue Eagles ended their campaign at rock bottom with a 4-10 record.
Jared Bahay paced Ateneo with 14 points on 14 shots while Ian Espinosa backed him up with 10 points.
Graduating guard Chris Koon tallied 10 points and three rebounds in his final game in a Blue Eagles jersey. Sean Quitevis, likewise, had played his last match for Ateneo.
