THERE WILL be no sweep in the UAAP this season as the Adamson Soaring Falcons denied the Ateneo Blue Eagles the feat with a resounding 62-46 victory in the 74th UAAP basketball tournament yesterday at the packed Araneta Coliseum.
With a crowd of 17,579 witnessing the game, the Falcons shamed the defending champions with a sizzling third period anchored on their pesky defense and the explosive shooting of athletic wingman Alex Nuyles, who had a total of 21 points. He also showed his versatility as he peppered his numbers with seven rebounds and two assists in 33 minutes of action.
The victory snapped Ateneo’s 13-game winning streak this season and denied the Blue Eagles the sweep, which would have put them in the finals without having to go through the Final Four.
Perhaps more importantly, Adamson stopped a 29-game losing streak to Ateneo, which dated back to Sept. 18, 1997 when they last beat the Eagles, 54-52.
The Falcons led by just three, 27-24, at halftime but got on top, 50-31, heading to the final canto, thanks to a 9-0 run in that stretch.
The lead reached a high of 20, 52-32, after a putback slam by Adamson’s Austin Manyara but Ateneo tried to fight back and came within 13, 43-56, off an inside move by Cebuano Greg Slaughter.
However, that run was quickly stopped as Nuyles hit two freethrows, Eric Camson converted a putback and former University of Cebu forward Jan Colina made a jumper that pushed their lead to 62-45 with two minutes left./Correspondent Jonas Panerio