Ugly win boosts Falcons’ semis bid

Games Sunday:

(UST Quadricentennial Pavilion)

12 p.m. — FEU vs UE

3:30 p.m. — UP vs NU

Adamson University breathed life into its flickering Final Four hopes after beating University of the East, 45-37, in a low-scoring and error-filled second round rematch in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball tournament Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

It was an ugly win, but the Falcons could not care less after snapping a five-game losing streak to get back on track in the tightening race for the remaining two semifinals slots.

Adamson held its first round tormentor to just five points in the fourth quarter to grab its fourth win in 11 starts and close in on fourth running University of Santo Tomas (5-6).

“Of course, we’re thankful that we won. I thought October’s the ghost month. We almost went zero for the month of October so it’s good that we’re able to get the win towards the end of the month,” a relieved Adamson coach Nash Racela said.

The Falcons relied heavily on their outside shooting, going 8-for-40 from the three-point line, which lowered their shooting percentage. Adamson shot 17-of-59 from the field overall.

The Falcons also committed 21 errors, just one turnover more than the Red Warriors.

But Racela doesn’t mind the atrocious stats as long as they end up with the win.

“This is something that we really need. If, I’d say our players were doing their part even with those losses that we had, that five straight losses that we had,” he said.

“But for us, we just want to continue doing the right things and eventually you’ll get that win. It’s good that we’re able to get it today.”

Matt Erolon and AJ Fransman finished with 14 points each while Cedrick Manzano added 12 for Adamson.

The Falcons held a slim, 33-32, lead heading into the payoff period but were able to keep the Red Warriors scoreless for six minutes in the last quarter.

Fransman scored eight of Adamson’s decisive 10-0 run in the final canto to build a 43-32 advantage with 5:56 left.

John Abate ended UE’s dry spell with 4:05 remaining but the Red Warriors only scored three points after that with Precious Momowei hitting a basket and splitting his charities.

Momowei had 12 points and 17 rebounds but committed nine turnovers as UE marked the league’s lowest-scoring game of a losing team since National University defeated Far Eastern University, 61-39, on 25 September 2019.

Devin Fikes and Abate had nine and eight points, respectively, for the Red Warriors, who slipped to a 6-4 card but remained at solo third.

It was a terrible first half for both teams, playing sloppy basketball with 12 turnovers each and poor field goal shooting.

UE shot 7-of-26 from the field while Adamson was worse with 7-of-31 clip but still made five of its 22 three-point attempts to enter the intermission on top, 22-19.

The scores:

Adamson (45) — Erolon 14, Fransman 14, Manzano 12, Montebon 3, Anabo 2, Calisay 0, Ramos 0, Yerro 0, Barasi 0, Mantua 0, Ojarikre 0.

UE (37) — Momowei 12, Fikes 9, Abate 8, Lingolingo 5, Maga 2, Spandonis 1, J. Cruz-Dumont 0, Galang 0, H. Cruz-Dumont 0, Mulingtapang 0, Finney 0, Wilson 0, Malaga 0, Go 0, Robles 0.

Quarters: 13-12, 22-19, 33-32, 45-37.