The Adamson University Soaring Falcons continue to climb the ladder as they barely defeated the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers in overtime, 97-96, in the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament at SM Mall of Asia Arena on October 29.

Down by two with 36 seconds in overtime, Matty  Erolon successfully shot a three-pointer from an assist by Mathew Montebon to get the lead with eight seconds remaining, 97-96. Forth Padrigao tried to win the match for UST, but he missed his three-point attempt, giving the Soaring Falcons their fifth win.

“We’re developing grit. I huddled the team after, I thanked them for not giving up. I go back to the first round – sabi ko, ‘Paano namin tatalunin ang UST? Kapag nakatono.’ Today, we were out of tune; it was a struggle. It’s good that our players played for each other,” Soaring Falcons head coach Nash Racela said.

Ray Allen Torres led the Falcons with 20 points, while Mathew Montebon and Cedrick Manzano each scored 19 points. John Medina contributed 10 points and eight rebounds, while Erolon finished the game with 9 points.

For the Growling Tigers, Collins Akowe had a double-double performance of 19 points and 14 rebounds, as well as Mark Llemit, who finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Padrigao and Kyle Paranada ended the game with 14 points apiece, while Nic Cabañero contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.

Later that day, the De La Salle University Green Archers continued their resurgence as they defeated the University of the East Red Warriors, 84-72, for their fourth straight victory.

The Green Archers had built a massive lead in halftime, a lead that was too much to overcome for the Red Warriors.

“We know it’s going to be a challenging game. We know that this UE team is always going to give their best every time we play against them. I have to give credit to my guys for really being in control of their emotions, especially when UE started to get close,” said Green Archers head coach Topex Robinson.

Luis Pablo led the Green Archers with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Mike Phillips posted a double-double performance of 14 points and 12 rebounds. Jacob Cortez finished the game with 12 points and five assists.

For the Red Warriors, John Abate led the team with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Precious Momowei had a double-double performance of 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The National University Bulldogs are still leading the standings with a 7-2 win-loss record, followed by the Green Archers and the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, who have an identical 6-3.

The Soaring Falcons and Growling Tigers share the fourth and fifth spots with a 5-4 card, followed by the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles with 4-5. The Far Eastern University currently sits in seventh place with 3-6, while the Red Warriors are at the bottom of the standings with nine losses.

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With eight seconds remaining, Erolon successfully sank a three-point shot to steal the victory, 97-96. Although he finished with just nine points, it was his heroics that brought the Soaring Falcons to victory.

“Nung nakita ko na si Ray (Torres) umatake, alam ko nang iki-kick out niya, nakita ko pinasa niya kay Monty (Montebon), and ‘yung tao ko, which is si Forthsky (Padrigao), nag-help sa kanya. Nakita ko ‘yun so pagsalo ko ng bola, shoot with confidence lang talaga ako,” he said after the victory.

Despite not scoring as much in regular, Erolon was only thinking his role in the game, and the fact that he needed to help his teammates to become victorious.

“Ang iniisip ko lang ay ‘yun naman ang role ko, kaya ako nandito sa team dahil sa shooting ko. Keep on shooting lang ako kahit magmintis, pero sabi nga ni coach, hindi pilit kasi alam ko na pag dumadaan sa akin ‘yung bola, may maghe-help. One more pass lang and dumating sa akin,” he said.

“Tinutulungan lang namin si Cedrick in terms of scoring. Pero kung wala talaga, hinahanap lang namin ‘yung tamang play namin at team muna kami bago ang sarili.”

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The University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers are currently on a three-game losing streak, starting with their first-round loss against Adamson University Soaring Falcons. The España-based squad also lost its second-round game against the De La Salle University Green Archers.

After their latest loss against the Soaring Falcons, Growling Tigers co-captain Forthsky Padrigao took responsibility for the loss, especially since they were leading by eight points, 88-80, with just 32.2 seconds in the game. 

“Well, I think that’s on us, players, especially kasi nakasulat sa board namin na play until the end and for 40 minutes. But again, personally, that’s [on] me too, missing free throws, then si Nic [Cabañero], nagdagdag din ng missed niya na free throws. So that’s on us din,” he told Tiebreaker Times after the game.

“We just need to stick together. We have five more games, we have to learn about the things that we need to learn about, and move on na.”

Moving forward, Padrigao emphasized that his teammates need to play their best until the end of regulation.

“‘Yung eagerness namin, we have to give more than 100% every game. It’s about us, watching film, taking into account what are our mistakes kasi doon kami matututo. It’s more of keeping our morale up kasi frustrating ‘yung talo, especially today. We can’t stay too low, you know?

“We have to stay grounded para makapag-move on kami and think about the next games na meron. I think wala ka naman kailangan baguhin. More on we have to stay together lalo na sa mga ganitong adversities. Kailangan namin mahanap and dig deep kung ano ba talaga ‘yung character namin and identity namin as a team. But then, hopefully, dumating siya sa next few games namin,” he ended.