FilOil: Adamson soars, as JRU fizzles out late

(Updated 3:32pm) The Adamson University Soaring Falcons clipped the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers, 69-65, in the FilOil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup elimination round, Wednesday, at the FilOil Flying V Arena.

In a game of hot and cold runs by both teams, size and length made the difference for the Falcons. Adamson played suffocating defense throughout the game, and Ingrid Sewa made key plays early in the fourth, resulting in a 20-10 tally in the final period to shake off a resilient Heavy Bombers squad.

"The good thing that happened is nanalo kami in a close fight, and we need these kinds of games," said Adamson head coach Leo Austria.

"I'm not happy with our performance because there were a lot of mistakes, and we were very disorganized in the second quarter," pointing to the Heavy Bombers' 18-0 run in the period.

"Pero very composed ang team namin. I allow them to play. This is a lesson for us," he said, adding that he wants his players to grow, especially Jericho Cruz and Ingrid Sewa. Austria also said that he couldn't give the two heavy minutes because he needs to season his relatively new squad after losing Alex Nuyles last year.

"Kung anong pinapagawa sakin ni coach, I'll just do it," said Cruz, who led all scorers with 24 points. Rodney Brondial chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Ingrid Sewa notched 11 points and seven boards.

Adamson bounced back from a 70-68 overtime loss against National University on May 6 to improve to 2-3, while JRU slid to 1-4 in Group A play.

Both teams played evenly to start the match, featuring makes from long range as a Philip Paniamogan trey gave JRU a 14-13 lead with three minutes to play. However the Falcons cleaned up, as triples by Harry Petilos and Roider Cabrera bookended a 10-2 run, and penalty charities allowed Adamson to take a 23-16 advantage after the first period.

The Heavy Bombers caught fire in the second quarter as the Falcons' luck from outside began to run out. Marco Balagtas and Paniamogan bombarded them from outside, connecting on four three-pointers between the two of them to build an 18-0 run. But it came at a cost as Gio Lasquety tweaked his right ankle during an offensive possession and had to be helped off the floor.

Jericho Cruz nailed a triple with under five minutes to play, giving the Falcons their first field goal of the frame. Adamson struggled to generate an offensive rhythm, but they did force several consecutive stops against JRU, as a four-point play by Cruz cut the deficit to two with a minute remaining. Don Trollano added a breakaway lay-up with 20 seconds to play, capping 11 unanswered points to knot the game at halftime, 34-34.

The Falcons were 11-of-25 from the field after two quarters (44 percent) while the Heavy Bombers were 12-of-32 (38 percent).


The frontcourt players became more prominent in the third quarter as Ingrid Sewa, who sat out the second quarter after picking up two personal fouls in the first, immediately put JRU in the penalty. On the other end, Michael Mabulac did damage from the elbow area for the Heavy Bombers, but thhe Falcons gained some separation on another Cruz trey and charities by Axel Inigo off a loose ball foul, 49-44, with three and a half minutes remaining.

The Heavy Bombers regrouped and began displaying better ball movement. Mabulac added a couple more jumpers from midrange, resulting in an 11-0 run to close the quarter, 55-49.

Sewa was a force around the basket in the fourth quarter, and his exploits netted him seven points in a 12-4 run which allowed Adamson to retake a 61-59 lead.

A Dave Sanchez floater finally broke through the Falcons' defense with under three minutes to play, knotting the game and ended a four-minute drought for the Heavy Bombers. But Adamson shook it off by attacking the basket and crashing the offensive glass, as a second-chance lay-up by Rodney Brondial made it a 67-61 game with 43.8 seconds left.

Paolo Pontejos quickly drew a foul on JRU's next possession but split from the line. Unable to rev up on offense, they resorted to sending Falcons to the charity stripe to preserve the clock, but their gamble didn't pay off as Adamson converted enough free throws to close things out.

The Falcons finished the game shooting 22-of-48 from the floor (46 percent). In contrast, the Heavy Bombers were 25-of-65 (38 percent). Adamson also shot 19-of-27 from the stripe (70 percent) compared to JRU's 9-of-14 clip (64 percent).

Philip Paniamogan top-scored for JRU with 18 points, including going 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Michael Mabulac tallied 14 points and eight rebounds for the NCAA squad.  - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

ADU 69: Cruz 24, Brondial 13, Sewa 11, Agustin 5, Rios 4, Trollano 4, Petilos 3, Cabrera 3, Inigo 2, Monteclaro 0, Abrigo 0, Bernabe 0, Ochea 0

JRU 65: Paniamogan 18, Mabulac 14, Pontejos 9, Balagtas 8, Gozum 6, Sanchez 6, Benavides 2, Abanto 2, Salaveria 0, Lasquety 0, Diego 0, Grospe 0, Medrano 0, Munez 0

Quarter scoring: 23-16, 34-34, 49-55,