Grounded Maroons fall to Soaring Falcons as Chris Ball returns; UP now out of the Final 4 race

Big men Brondial and Ball back for their teams in this game

No Nuyles, no problem.

The Adamson Falcons played well enough in the rebounding and second chance points department to carve out a 75-70 win against the pesky UP Fighting Maroons in the 75^th season of the UAAP.

Playing with no pressure after being the first team to be eliminated from Final Four contention, the Falcons repeated over the Maroons after a two-point win in the first round.  Rodney Brondial was the hero anew in this match-up as he posted 15 points and 17 rebounds, 11 on the offensive end. Together with Eric Camson (19 points) and Jericho Cruz (17 points), the Falcon trio led the charge against every scoring run by the relentless Maroons.

It was actually a different story at the start of the game as UP even led by three points, 12-9, halfway in the first quarter. It was at this point when Adamson unleashed a flurry of outside shots and a barrage of offensive rebounds that led to putbacks, most notably from Camson and Brondial. Camson led the Falcon attack with 11 first quarter points.

UP on the other hand was having trouble converting on their outside attempts. Mike Silungan and his crew were unable to convert on majority of their outside shots, most behind the three-point line. Adamson led 25-17 after the first.

The Maroons went to their most offensively efficient line-up to start the second quarter with Henry Asilum, Mark Lopez, Alvin Padilla, Raul Soyud and Chris Ball. The Maroon five fought back led by Asilum and Padilla who scored mostly on fastbreaks and drives to the basket, yet the Falcons still led 35-31 at the half.

Adamson’s big three then went on to punish the Maroons in the second half as they got more separation mainly with their fastbreak conversions and offensive putbacks. They padded their lead to seven going into the final quarter, 51-44, with Cruz contributing 13 markers in the third.

The Falcons stepped on the gas pedal even more in the fourth quarter when they led by as much as 11 points, 66-55, on a Jansen Rios short jumper. UP made a 5-0 run courtesy of Padilla, Lopez and Jelo Montecastro to bring the lead down to six, 66-60. Then Rios and Ryan Monteclaro score two points each to bring the lead back to ten, 70-60, with 1:31 left in the game.

Jett Manuel hit a three to cut it down to seven again. UP employed a full court press and was successful in taking the ball from the Falcons. Montecastro was fouled twice in consecutive sequences but was unable to hit any of the four freethrows awarded to him.

An exchange of baskets ensued and UP even forced Adamson into a jumpball but was unable to get the possession. Manuel hit a buzzer beater three to end the scoring.

The key stat in this game was rebounding and second chance points. Adamson played their strengths well over a smaller UP squad and will now move out of the cellar with a 2-8 record. UP was also technically eliminated from final four contention, the third team to bow out after Adamson and UE.

The lone bright spot for State U in this game is Manuel, who scored 12 points on a variety of drives and outside shots.

Notes:

Both starting centers were back after sitting out their last game, Ball due to his pending ACR and Brondial because of a one-game suspension

After Ball’s reinstatement, their lone win against UE was upheld by the UAAP board

Alex Nuyles, who is now out for the season, played more of a facilitator in their first round win against UP (scored just six points)