MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Adamson was never talked about as a Final Four candidate when Season 87 of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament started. But with relentless effort, coach Nash Racela believes that there is a spot on that elite list for his Soaring Falcons.
Though very early in the elimination round, stunning revamped University of Santo Tomas, 69-56, on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena showed that the Falcons have what it takes to put their name in the hat.
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“There were some doubts heading into the game after struggling the last few days,” coach Nash Racela said after his wards climbed up to 2-1 to be in the company of the title contenders. “What the first half showed was we can stay with them (Growling Tigers).
“After the break, it’s a realization that ‘Oh, it is possible [to compete] despite UST having a stronger lineup and support compared to last year. We can play with them’ [and] that triggered it in the second half.
“Our defense was commendable,” Racela added.
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Santo Tomas, which absorbed a first loss after two consecutive wins, came out of the gates strong to control the first quarter only to crumble the rest of the way when the gritty Falcons doggedly ran them down.
Matthew Montebon gave the Falcons their first taste of the lead, 33-32, late in the second quarter, before Adamson methodically pulled away to make this an ugly night for Santo Tomas and its faithful.
Crippling blitzkrieg
Nic Cabañero, Santo Tomas’ main cog, drained a triple to start the third quarter followed by a floater. But it was all downhill from there for Santo Tomas as Adamson rained down on the España-based squad with a mammoth 20-1 run bridging the third and fourth frames for 55-38.
It was a great character win for the Falcons, who were coming from an 82-52 shellacking at the hands of defending champion La Salle.
And that’s where the doubts Racela talked about came from.
“Like coach Nash said, our focus was pretty bad in preparation for La Salle, so we took that as a learning opportunity,” Montebon said after leading Adamson in the bounce back win with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
Two more stepped up for Racela in Anthony Fransman and former Tiger Royce Mantua, who each finished 11 points. Fransman, a transferee from Enderun, laced his offense with 10 rebounds.
No reason to celebrate
“In my first game, I was still feeling it out because it was my first time in a big arena [so] I am just sticking with coach Nash’s system [and] try to reach his standard and do what I need to do,” Fransman said in Filipino.
But even if Adamson improved to a 2-1 card, there is no reason for the Falcons to celebrate as Racela tries to keep his team’s confidence in check.
“Every game is different, that’s something that we realized and from FEU (Far Eastern U), La Salle to UST and then I think we play Ateneo next so every game is different,” Racela said. “We are preaching to them that our defense will be different [each game] so don’t be too happy with the result.
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“The tendency of a person is to be complacent. They think that they are already good and then all of a sudden in the next game you face a tough team, so hopefully they learn from that La Salle experience. We should prepare better moving forward,” Racela added. INQ