UAAP: Hosts Adamson Falcons soar to victory versus UP Maroons

(Updated 4:20 pm) The host team Adamson University Soaring Falcons whipped the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 79-67, in their first game of the elimination round of the UAAP men's basketball tournament, Sunday, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

[Read the play by play of this game here]

Ingrid Sewa came up huge in his UAAP debut, scoring 11 points in a pivotal third quarter that forced UP to fight against a 53-35 hole midway through the period. The Maroons rallied in bursts, but never got closer than six points in the penultimate quarter, before getting shut out for most of the final frame.

Jericho Cruz bannered the Falcons with 19 points, six rebounds, and three steals. Sewa tallied a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Roider Cabrera and Rodney Brondial secured nine boards each, while tallying 11 and nine markers, respectively.

"I don't know if this is our first win to start the season. Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, every time nagsstart ng season natatalo kami. But this time we wanted to make sure na nanalo kami," said Adamson head coach Leo Austria. "Halos lahat ginawa nila to the letter, and we had a good start. I'm happy na from start to finish, we controlled the game."

Austria also said that his preseason preparations helped him win their opening game. "During the summer leagues pinag-aaralan ko yung ginagawa ng UP kasi ayaw naming mapahiya sa opening day. We're the host team and everyone is expecting us to do well," he said.

On the other hand, he said he lengthened his rotations during the summer like the UST Tigers and the FEU Tamaraws, a move which he said helped them win their season debuts with a couple of surprise performances. Sophomore point guard Ar-Raouf Julkipli tallied eight points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes, while rookie Axel Inigo scored only three points but had six assists and two steals against the Maroons.

Starting point guard Ryan Monteclaro didn't play until the final minute of the blowout. Monteclaro's mother passed away last Friday and has been away from the team during the final days of their preparations. Austria explained his decision to bench him, saying, "For me if you didn't practice the day before the game, I won't use you. But I have sympathy for Monteclaro because in his heart he wants to help the team.

"Siya yung glue man ng team namin," he said, stressing how much he values Monteclaro. "Dahil sa kanya nagsasama-sama yung team."

Adamson began the game with good hands on defense as Jericho Cruz and Jansen Rios converted UP's miscues into baskets on the open court. But despite starting the game with three quick turnovers, the Maroons hung tough, getting timely baskets from Raul Soyud to stay close, 9-8.

UP made some gains when they slowed down the pace, and drives by Mikee Reyes briefly gave them a 13-11 lead with under three minutes to play. But when Adamson figured things out in the halfcourt, they closed the period with seven unanswered markers, punctuated by a Roider Cabrera trey with 32 seconds remaining for an 18-13 advantage.

The trio of Cabrera, Harry Petilos and Axel Inigo held the fort for Adamson early in the second quarter. The wingmen benefited from the latter's playmaking en route to a 9-4 run, 27-17.

Midway through the period the Maroons showed signs of life anew and capitalized on the Falcons' miscues to score their next four baskets at the rim, as a pair of daredevil drives by Sam Marata sliced the lead to six, 31-25, with under three minutes to play. Though Adamson struggled to finish point-blank, Ar-Raouf Julkipli kept them afloat by scoring five of their last six, ending the half with a 37-28 margin.

Adamson connected on 14-of-35 (40 percent) shots in the first two periods while holding the Maroons to 11-of-31 (35.5 percent). The Falcons also led in rebounds (28-13) and fast break points (9-2).


UP threatened in the third quarter as a Marata triple brought them within six anew, 39-33. After a quiet first half, Ingrid Sewa asserted himself beneath the basket. The Cameroonian racked up six points in a crippling 15-2 run for the Falcons to give them a 53-35 lead.

However the Falcons began to slip, giving up penetration plays and fouls to UP's backcourt. Henry Asilum led the charge with six points in a 14-2 counter-surge, 55-49, with under two minutes to play. Cruz then bailed out Adamson with good off-ball movement, scoring four points among five unanswered to keep a 60-49 lead heading into the final period.

Petilos swished a three-pointer for Adamson to start the fourth quarter to set the tone for another blitz, this time an 11-5 stretch capped by a sweet drop-step move from Cruz, 71-54.

Marata did his best to put up points for UP, scoring six of their first eight points in the frame. The Maroons eventually capitalized on the Falcons' shaky defense late, but tit-for-tat scoring by Adamson's bigs was enough to ensure a smooth finish until the final buzzer.

The Falcons shot 17-of-29 (58.6 percent) in the second half, finishing 14-of-35 (48.4 percent) overall. In contrast the Maroons were 14-of-36 (38.9 percent) in the latter quarters for a 25-of-67 (37.3 percent) clip for the game.

Adamson outplayed UP in the hustle categories despite losing the turnover battle, 17-25. They led in fast break points (13-6), second-chance points (16-11) and turnover points (13-9). They also led in rebounding, 53-29, including 23-12 offensive.

Sam Marata led all scorers with 20 points and five rebounds. Raul Soyud and Henry Aslium notched 10 points each, while Soyud gathered seven rebounds. - AMD/CLP, GMA News


The scores:

ADU 79: Cruz 19, Sewa 15, Cabrera 11, Brondial 9, Petilos 8, Julkipli 8, Rios 4, Inigo 3, Agustin 2, Trollano 0, Ochea 0, Monteclaro 0, Bernabe 0, Abrigo 0

UP 67: Marata 20, Soyud 10, Asilum 10, Lao 6, Wong 4, Reyes 4, Pascual 4, Ball 4, Gallarza 3, Harris 2, Paras 0, Ligad 0, Gingerich 0

Quarter scores: 18-13, 37-28, 60-49, 79-67