UAAP: UST vs AdU round two preview and live-scoring

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Two teams in the midst of free-falling down the standings will try to arrest their slide with a win against the other, as the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers collide against the Adamson University Soaring Falcons, Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Round one encounter

The Adamson Falcons led at the half, 34-26, but suddenly couldn't find their offense after the break, as they scored just seven points in the third canto, letting UST surge ahead, 45-41. Things didn't get any better at the start of the fourth, as a 10-2 run by the Tigers widened the gap, 55-43, 6:56 left.

The Falcons finally came back to life, as triples from Harry Petilos, Don Trollano, and Roider Cabrera had them within two points, 64-62, of the Growling Tigers, under half a minute left. However, last season's finalists held firm, via a Jeric Teng jumper and an Aljon Mariano split at the line, to earn a 67-62 squeaker of a win.

UST outlook

Things seemed like they were going to turn around for UST, after it was announced that Jeric Teng would be able to end his five-game absence due to a shoulder injury, prior to their game last Saturday against the NU Bulldogs. They also got a boost when Aljon Mariano was able to suit up after an ankle injury in their previous game versus the UE Red Warriors.

[Related: The last stand of cowboy Jeric Teng]

As it turned out though, Teng logged just 10 minutes, after suffering a severe cramp in his hamstring that kept him out of the second half. Mariano on the other hand shot 4-of-11 from the field and missed all of his free throw attempts, en route to nine points, and a 75-61 drubbing at the hands of NU.

Karim Abdul had a double-double as usual, 18 points and 12 rebounds, but he simply cannot do it alone, especially when the presence of Ingrid Sewa could neutralize him in this next match.

AdU outlook

Jericho Cruz finally found his shot at the start of the fourth quarter, pouring in 13 markers on 3-of-7 shooting, along with a 7-of-8 clip from the foul line, as part of a 19-0 Adamson run against Ateneo, last Sunday. However, it just wasn't enough, as they still lost, 79-66.

[Related: Clipped wings prevent Adamson Falcons from soaring]

Since the start of the second round, teams have been making a concentrated effort to try to stop Cruz, and so far, it's been working. The second-year guard saw his points drop from 16.7 after the first seven outings to 13.33 in the last three games. He's simply not hitting anymore, going from 21.1 percent from long-range to 11.1, and 40.0 percent on all attempts to a sub-par 28.6 clip. The rest of the team needs to make their opponents pay for focusing so much attention to him, but so far, it hasn't happened yet.