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The Adamson Soaring Falcons came closest to defeating the National University Bulldogs during the summer FilOil Flying V Pre-season Tournament. They'll be looking to complete the job on Sunday, when the two clash in the 75th season of the UAAP, Sunday at 4pm, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Last May when these two teams played in the pre-season, NU scored just two fast break points, zero turnover points, and a poor four second chance points, with Adamson scoring 12, 17 and 19, respectively in those fields.

While the Falcons (1-2) will have to be very lucky for that to happen again, they were in fact a bit fortunate in the manner in which they got their first victory. Up by 20, 28-8 after the first quarter over UP, the Maroons retaliated by holding Adamson to just nine markers in the second. A back-and-forth game then broke out in the second half all the way to the end, with UP even getting the last look, but good defense on the Falcons' part forced Alvin Padilla into a contested shot, allowing them to escape with a 69-67 win.

So far, the revelation for Adamson has been transferee Jericho Cruz, who is one of three Falcons norming double-digit scoring, at 10.3 points to be exact. He also averages the most steals on the squad, 1.7, and is actually shooting a decent clip from the field, 45.8 percent. He allows Alex Nuyles, whose shot has been horribly off, to assume the role of playmaker, on route to a team-high 5.0 dimes.

NU on the other hand, finally showed that they could beat one of the higher-tier teams in the league, rallying from a deficit to beat FEU, 61-57. The Tams actually led 40-30 in the latter part of the third period, but what turned the tide though was FEU repeatedly sending the Bulldogs to the foul line, where they were 10-of-14 in the third period. The free looks at the basket allowed the host team to catch up, getting to within a point with 10 minutes left, before overturning a triple-happy FEU quintet in the dying moments of the game.

The Bulldogs found good support for reigning MVP Bobby Ray Parks from their bigs, as Troy Rosario and Emmanuel Mbe each scored 12, and added a total of 19 boards. In previous games, NU had been too dependent on their shooting to carry them through stretches, but with their starting front court clicking, it's likely they'll go to them again, especially with Adamson's thin frontline.

Season 74 history lesson:

• Round 1 - NU defeated ADU 63-56, on July 31
• Round 2 - ADU defeated NU 68-53, on August 18

Projected ADU starting five - Jericho Cruz (19 points on 6/8 FG, 7/7 FT, 4 rebounds vs UP), Ryan Monteclaro, Alex Nuyles, Eric Camson, Rodney Brondial

Projected NU starting five - Bobby Ray Parks (17 points on 2/9 FG, 13/17 FT, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block vs FEU), Gelo Alolino, Dennice Villamor, Troy Rosario, Emmanuel Mbe