Tiger tamers
Adamson remained a puzzle that University of Santo Tomas still couldn’t quite solve.
On Saturday at Philsports Arena, the Soaring Falcons put the clamps on the Growling Tigers for an 85-57 victory in the UAAP Season 89 men’s basketball tournament, extending their mastery of a team they swept in last season’s elimination round.
The Falcons defeated the Tigers twice in Season 88, 69-59 and 97-96, and even after a full offseason of preparations, UST still couldn’t quite crack coach Nash Racela’s code.
Adamson’s greatest weapon against the Tigers was hardly a secret.
It was defense.
“The players did their part. We gave them a game plan, and they followed it accordingly,” Racela said. “I think that’s the only way we could have a chance in the UAAP, if we really follow it and defend those other teams.
“If we don’t do our part defensively, any given day they will all score 90, 100. That’s a really talented team. We just needed to work on our defense.”
Adamson did just about everything right on that end of the floor, forcing UST into 20 turnovers that the Falcons converted into 21 points.
The Falcons also made life miserable for the Tigers from the field, holding the España-based squad to 31.7 percent shooting.
Even worse for UST, the Tigers made just two of their 24 attempts from beyond the arc. Adamson, by comparison, knocked down 11 of 33 three-pointers.
And while the Falcons frustrated UST on one end, Mathew Montebon made sure they had more than enough firepower on the other.
Montebon bounced back from a four-point outing against Ateneo by exploding for 21 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals in just over 23 minutes.
“I just tried to tell my teammates to play confident and be decisive,” Montebon said. “I just told them, if you think you have it, take it with confidence. If you don’t, get to the next play.”
Matty Erolon added 17 points, while Earl Medina scored 11 on 3-of-4 shooting from deep as Adamson improved to 2-1.
Collins Akowe’s double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds went for naught for UST, which slipped to 2-2. Amiel Acido added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Ace activated
Earlier, Kieffer Alas showed his offensive prowess anew as Ateneo erased a 17-point deficit to turn back NU, 87-76.
Alas scored seven points during a decisive fourth-quarter run and finished with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals as the Blue Eagles improved to 3-1.
The Bulldogs came out firing, opening the game with a 9-0 run before taking a 24-15 lead after the first quarter. Their advantage grew to 36-19 in the second period before Ateneo gradually worked its way back.
After the teams traded big runs, they found themselves locked at 70 with five minutes remaining in the fourth.
That was when Alas took over.
Ateneo unleashed a 12-4 run to build an 82-74 advantage with 1:07 remaining, with Alas accounting for seven of those 12 points.
“He really has a lot of guts,” coach Louie Alas said in Filipino, joking about his son. “Kidding aside, I told him that as long as they’re not bad shots, as long as you’re open, go. That’s his role, to score.”
Andrew Bongo added 16 points, while Shawn Tuano and Travis Roberts chipped in 14 apiece for the Blue Eagles.
Tebol Garcia finished with 18 points for NU, which dropped to 2-2. Reinhard Jumamoy and Paul Francisco added 14 points each in the loss.
