Falcons best Red Warriors for last UAAP semis berth

MANILA, Philippines -- And then there were four.

The Final Four of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament is set, with the Adamson Soaring Falcons completing the cast after outlasting the University of the East Red Warriors, 68-55, in their do-or-die war Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Adamson will thus go against the defending champions La Salle Green Archers as the Final Four starts this weekend at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Ced Manzano paced the Soaring Falcons with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to go with two blocks and two steals. Monty Montebon added 13 markers, six dimes and three boards as he took over in the final minutes.

Adamson led by as much as 15 points, 58-43, after back-to-back shots by Royce Mantua and Manzano.

UE, though, tried to storm back, cutting the lead to 10, 48-58, as Precious Momowei, Jack Cruz-Dumont and Rainer Maga teamed up.

After misses by the Falcons, Montebon faked from the corner and drove right at Momowei, who jumped to block a floater.

Momowei was called for his fifth foul and crashed hard to the ground that he had to be stretchered out of the playing court.

Montebon made both free throws, and followed this up with a floater to push the lead to 14, 62-58.

Cruz-Dumont tried to spark a run by UE, hitting a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 11, 51-62, with 1:47 remaining.

Joshua Yerro, though, answered back with a triple of his own for the dagger, 65-51.

Cruz-Dumont retaliated with a trey and a split from the line by Devin Fikes made it a 10 point lead with 1:02 remaining, 55-65, but Montebon dialed in from rainbow country to put the icing on the cake.

“We’re grateful that two out of the three knockout games, were able to advance. Sabi ko nga the other day, if we need to go through a playoff eveyr year, we’ll go through it," Adamson head coach Nash Racela said after the game.

"The beauty about this is we really gave ourselves a chance. The players, more specifically, did their part getting here but we still have a job to do." 

Cruz-Dumont led UE in his final collegiate game with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists on 6-of-10 shooting.

Maga, Momowei and John Abate had 10 each.

The Red Warriors led by eight, 10-2, in the first quarter, but Adamson unleashed an 18-0 run to grab the game by the horns, 20-10, at the start of the second frame.

A Cruz-Dumont jumper capped a 10-1 blitz to make it a one point game, 20-21, but the Soaring Falcons just kept on coming to keep their opponents at bay.

UE had several chances to make it to the semifinals, needing just one more win to make it to the Final Four after a 6-3 win-loss record.

However, they lost six straight, including Wednesday’s playoff.

Adamson, meanwhile, won five of their last six games. At one point in the season, the San Marcelino-based squad was at 3-7 before staging a furious rally into the semis.