La Salle brings down Adamson in OT for solo 4th spot

The DLSU Green Archers bounced back, defeating the Adamson Soaring Falcons, 79-78, in overtime, to land on the solo fourth spot at the end of the  first round of UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball eliminations, Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

After an Aljun Melecio floater tied the game in regulation, 64-64, the Archers went on a scoring spree, making a 9-0 run in the first three minutes of the extra period.

Jerick Ahanmisi stopped the bleeding for the Falcons with less than two minutes in the clock, 73-66.

The Falcons tried to be close with a Sean Manganti trey cutting the deficit to two with 18.1 seconds left, 77-75. 

La Salle's Kib Montalbo sunk two from the stripe to give the Archers a comfortable lead, 79-75, with 6.2 seconds left.

Ahanmisi tried to steal the game with a three, 79-78, but it was not enough to deliver the win to San Marcelino.

Adamson continued to chase La Salle in the second half, both of them making 15 points each during the final period, and 17 against La Salle's 16 during the third quarter.

The Falcons upended the Archers during the second period, trimming the deficit to a point via a 10-2 run to end the first half, 33-32. DLSU had a commanding lead at the end of the first quarter, 22-16.

Manganti and Ahanmisi combined for 26 points of Adamson’s 32 during the first half.

"Nag-boil down ito sa preparation namin. I-commend ko coaching staff and players ko kasi buong linggo, after that loss against Ateneo, talagang back-to-basics kami. Chineck out namin sistema namin, we made sure na learning from the Ateneo game, ma-correct agad namin," DLSU head coach Louie Gonzalez said.

"Nasa gitna na ng season kaya dapat lumalaban na talaga. 'Yung chemistry nandun na sa laro. Good thing sa game na ito, 'yung composure hanggang sa huli. Nagka-glitches sa huli, pero ganun talaga Adamson pag kalaban mo, they'll get into your head, pag nawala ka sa mental toughness mo, talagang babalik at babalik sila sa game. Luckily, at the end, nakuha namin ang breaks, we made crucial stops, buti na lang nanalo," the rookie coach added.

Melecio led the Taft-based squad with 22 points.

WATCH: This Aljun Melecio shot brought the Adamson-La Salle game to overtime. End of regulation, 64-64. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/wIoGdu4uW0

— JK Carandang (@jk_carandang) October 13, 2018

Ahanmisi topped the Falcons with 27 points, while Manganti listed 23 markers.

Both DLSU and AdU will play again on Wednesday, with the Falcons facing NU, and the Archers playing UE.

La Salle is now at 4-3, while Adamson holds five wins and two losses.

SCORES:

DLSU (79) - Melecio - 22, Baltazar - 16, Santillan - 16, Caracut - 8, Montalbo - 8, Serrano - 5, Bates - 2, Manuel - 2, Dyke - 0, Go - 0

ADU (78) - Ahanmisi - 27, Manganti - 23, Sarr - 9, Catapusan - 5, Camacho - 4, Lastimosa - 3, Bernardo - 2, Colonia - 2, Espeleta - 2, Magbuhos - 1, Mojica - 0, Pingoy - 0

— MDM, GMA News