Falcons nip Eagles, move a win away from PCCL crown

Adamson, a team that sneaked into the championship round of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League, is definitely for real. This became more obvious as the Falcons stunned the reigning UAAP grand slam champion Ateneo Eagles, 80-78, Thursday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. Alex Nuyles completed a three-point play in the final 16.6 seconds for the final tally that put the Falcons a win away from winning their first major college basketball crown in three decades. With the Falcons trailing by one, 77-78, with under 20 seconds left, Nuyles courageously drove to the basket and made a tough reverse lay-up while drawing a foul from Tonito Gonzaga. He sank the bonus charity to give the Falcons an 80-78 lead. With no timeouts left, the Eagles rushed to the other end. Nico Salva missed a floater, but Justin Chua was there to get the rebound and was fouled in the process. But the Falcons were not in the penalty yet, leaving the Eagles only 2.3 seconds to map out a play off a baseline inbound. Salva caught the pass at the elbow, but was unable to launch a shot against the tight defense of Jan Colina. The Falcons try to wrap things up on Sunday’s Game 2. Nuyles finished with 13 points, including eight in the final five minutes of play. He added four rebounds and three assists in a solid all-around game. "Nag-step up si Alex (Nuyles) kaya kami nanalo. Although hindi lang naman siya, maganda 'yung nilaro namin nu'ng fourth quarter and ang pinakaimportante, naniwala sila na kaya namin,’’ said Adamson coach Leo Austria. Colina scored a team-high 16 points and six rebounds while Lester Alvarez added nine. - KY/RCJ, GMANews.TV