MANILA, Philippines -- “UST happened.”
After a disastrous third quarter against the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, Adamson head coach Nash Racela admitted that the Soaring Falcons lacked desire, as well as offense and defense, in their crucial loss on Saturday.
Adamson absorbed a 49-75 beating at the hands of the Tigers, who reached their first Final Four appearance in five years.
The Falcons dropped to 5-8, directly behind the 6-7 University of the East Red Warriors.
After Saturday’s game, Racela noted how they were unable to contain the streaky shooting of UST.
“What happened? UST happened. Alam naman namin na UST is a very explosive team. Well, we struggled stopping them and we struggled offensively,” Racela told reporters.
“I always tell them that if we can’t be good at both, at least be good at one. Kanina, parehong wala. That’s how they got that run,” he added.
The Falcons started the game waxing hot, going up 14-3 in the first few minutes.
The Tigers, though, bounced back and took the lead, 29-28, at the half.
But a 23-4 third quarter UST bomb changed the course of the game, as Adamson could not contain the Tigers.
The lead grew to as much as 28 points late.
"It's desire. We told them na it's not X and Os anymore. When you get to the more crucial games, it's really desire and really wanting it more. Kanina nung first half pa lang, nakita na naming na ginugusto ng UST. That was the challenge at halftime, pero yun, hindi napigilan."
Adamson will still face the already-ran but dangerous Ateneo Blue Eagles next Saturday.
For a chance to make the semis, the Falcons will need to win over the Blue Eagles and hope that UE will fall against University of the Philippines to force a playoff for the fourth seed.
“Well, we told them na before the start of the game, we needed two wins to get to the final four. Sana today and the next game. That gives us an outright ticket to the Final Four. but since we lost, we still need two. Which means, we need to do it the hard way,” Racela said.
“Number one, we need to win against Ateneo and yun nga, hope that UP wins against UE so that we can play a knockout match. Yeah, wala na sa kamay sa amin sa ngayon. The only thing we can control is our next game. Even if UP helps us, if we don’t win our next game, then wala rin.”
The Adamson-Ateneo matchup will be on Saturday, 6:30 p.m., at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.