Baby Falcons rally to beat Bullpups, near UAAP juniors crown
At A Glance
- Adamson rallied from 10 points down in the second half to hack out a 77-71 win over National University Nazareth School and move closer to bagging the UAAP Season 86 high school boys basketball championship on Sunday, Feb. 4, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
Adamson rallied from 10 points down in the second half to hack out a 77-71 win over National University Nazareth School and move closer to bagging the UAAP Season 86 high school boys basketball championship on Sunday, Feb. 4, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
Klein Tagotongan's three-pointer gave the Bullpups their biggest lead of the game at 59-49 late in the third period before the Mike Fermin-mentored Baby Falcons unloaded a 17-2 run capped by Vince Reyes lay-up to seize a 66-61 advantage with 5:41 left.
NUNS, which is making its 11th finals appearance in the last 12 seasons, never recovered from that Adamson’s onslaught.
History is on the side of Adamson, which is eyeing its first title since 1993 under then coach and now player agent Charlie Dy, as six of the eight previous Game 1 winners - and eight of the last 10 have gone on to become champions.
The Baby Falcons hope to close it out in Game 2 on Wednesday at the San Juan arena.
Reyes, who had nine of his 17 points in the payoff period, hopes to correct Adamson's mistakes in the opener.
"Kailangang bawasan ang mga lapses namin. Kailangang ibalik ang teamwork at talagang makinig sa mga coaches namin at sa game plan po. Noong first at third (quarter), nawala kami sa game plan kaya naging sabog sabog kami," said Reyes, who also logged six rebounds, two assists and two steals.