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| Rodney Brondial flashed fine form filling in for Austin Manyara at the slot. (image by Ralph Samson/FullcourtFresh.com) |
AdU Soaring Falcons over the UE Red
Warriors, 76-57
UE played
well enough to lead at the half in this one. They also played well enough to
force Adamson to turn on the switch in the final two periods.
One distinct
trait of any championship contender is the ability to turn things on and kick
their play up a notch at the drop of a hat, and the Soaring Falcons showed that
in this game.
Coach Jery
Codiñera’s crimson crew, however, gave another sterling effort, going on a 15-3
run bridging the first two quarters to turn an 11-17 deficit into a 26-20 lead.
They eventually ended the first half on top, and even opened the second half
scoring courtesy of a Paul Zamar trey, but Adamson was not to be denied its 9th
win, and an outright berth in the Final Four.
Behind the
inside forays of Eric Camson and Rodney Brondial, and the sniping of Lester
Alvarez, Janus Lozada and Alex Nuyles, coach Leo Austria transformed the
neck-and-neck race into a rout, outscoring their Recto counterparts by 20 in
the last 20 minutes of the game.
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| Eric Camson had a monster double-double to lead the Falcons to an outright Final Four berth. (image by Diana Moraleda/Inboundpass.com) |
The telling
stats?
Virtually
everything.
Adamson
outshot UE from the field (44% to 31%), three-pointers made (8 to just 3),
rebounds (53 to 34), assists (17 to 14), steals (7 to 4), and blocks (7 to 2).
Outplayed.
Outclassed.
And to think
Adamson did it without Austin Manyara, who is being saved for the bigger
battles in the near future.
The San
Marcelino five didn’t miss him too much, though, since reserve slotman Brondial was nothing short of spectacular. The sophomore from Quezon City
Academy nailed 8 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, blocked 2 shots, and had a steal
to boot! Perhaps Manyara’s getting nervous about losing his starting spot next
season? And, get this, Brondial did all those in just 18 minutes on the floor!
Shudder!
Now given
that Brondial will probably come off the bench in the remaining games,
Adamson’s prospective opponents should really watch out. Teaming up with
Brondial off the pine will be Camson, Roider Cabrera and Jerick Cañada. That’s
as deep a bench as you’ll find anywhere in the 7,107 isles of our beloved
nation.
And, as this
game displayed, that bench, and this whole Adamson flock, can switch it on in a
snap. So everyone better beware, especially the UST Growling Tigers on
Saturday.
UE,
meanwhile, drops to 2-10 in a tie for the lowest tier. Things won’t get any
easier on Sunday as they face the Tamaraws, but things should be interesting in
their last playdate as they tussle with the Maroons next week.
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| The Red Warriors are left contemplating about the what-could-have-beens again. (image by Diana Moraleda/Inboundpass.com) |
AdU 76 – Camson 20, Nuyles 17, Alvarez
10, Cabrera 9, Brondial 8, Lozada 7, Colina 2, Rios 2, Cañada 1, Etrone 0,
Agustin 0, Petilos 0, Olalia 0, Monteclaro 0
UE 57 – Zamar 17, Santos 6, Enguio 6,
Casajeros 5, Noble 5, Tagarda 4, Duran 4, Zosa 3, Sumido 2, Flores 2, Sabangan
2, Javier 1, Sumang 0, De Leon 0
QS: 17-14, 27-28, 51-40,
76-57
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