Adamson survives late scare from UP to stay on solo second

The Adamson Soaring Falcons still hold the second spot in the standings after surviving a late scare from the UP Fighting Maroons, 80-72, Sunday, at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Down 19 points at the end of the third period, 67-48, the Diliman-based squad made a 17-2 run in the final period and chased Adamson to as close as 69-65 at the 2:52 mark.

However, a Juan Gomez de Liaño foul gave AdU's Jerick Ahanmisi a chance to sink in three from the stripe, which stopped the bleeding for the San Marcelino-based squad. A Sean Manganti dagger trey widened the lead for Adamson at 1:14, 77-70, and big man Papi Sarr's dunk sealed the deal for the Falcons with 26 ticks left.

The Falcons stormed the Maroons during the third period with 33 points against UP's 22. Adamson had the lead at the end of the first half, 34-26.

Ahanmisi led the Falcons with 24 points, 16 of which were made during their third quarter storm.

Bright Akhuetie topped the Fighting Maroons in scoring with 24 points while Juan Gomez de Liaño listed 15 markers.

With the win, the Falcons now have an 8-2 record while UP slides to the fifth place, tied with FEU at 5-6.

Adamson will face league leaders Ateneo on Sunday while UP will next play against NU on Saturday.

Scores

AdU (80): Ahanmisi - 24, Lastimosa - 14, Sarr - 12, Manganti - 10, Catapusan - 5, Magbuhos - 4, Camacho - 3, Mojica - 3,  Pingoy - 3, Bernardo - 2, Zaldivar - 0.

UP (72): Akhuetie - 24, De Liaño, Juan - 15, Desiderio - 13, Manzo - 8, De Liaño, Javi - 5, Vito -5, Jaboneta - 2, Dario - 0, Gozum - 0, Lim -0, Prado - 0.

— Justin Kenneth Carandang/BM, GMA News