Matthew Montebon sank the game-winning three-pointer with three seconds left to save Adamson’s Final Four hopes, hacking out a 63-61 win against also-ran University of the East in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday, Nov. 19, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. 

The Soaring Falcons lived to fight another day after improving their tally to 7-7, forcing the Ateneo Blue Eagles into a playoff on Wednesday for the last semifinal seat after falling into a two-way tie. 

Montebon drilled in the dagger triple to finish with 16 points and seven rebounds. 

Cedrick Manzano, for his part, had a double-double outing of 16 markers and 10 rebounds, while Vince Magbuhos added 10 points. 

The closely-contested match saw both squads knotted at 47-all in the early goings of the fourth period before Adamson briefly pulled away and built a 57-52 gap on Joshua Yerro’s three throws with 4:10 left. 

However, UE countered with six unanswered points capped by returning Precious Momowei’s jumper to snatch the lead, 57-58. 

With only 11 seconds to go, the Soaring Falcons found themselves on the brink of elimination as Jack Cruz-Dumont fired a potential game-winning triple to give the Red Warriors a slim 61-60 advantage. 

But with three seconds on the clock, Montebon stepped up big time and sank a triple from the left corner to rescue Adamson’s semifinal dreams. 

Rey Remogat and Momowei paced the outgoing Red Warriors with double-double performances. 

Remogat delivered 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Momowei added 15 markers and also grabbed 11 rebounds. 

After a promising start, UE wound up with a 4-10 slate to end its Season 86 campaign