Sarr delivers as Adamson shocks UE

Adamson's Pape Sarr remained explosive as he tallied for 22 points and 20 rebounds with his team improving to a 3-10 win-loss record. Dugout Philippines/Bien Lazarte
By Alex Cerado

QUEZON CITY--Adamson University knows how to play the spoiler's role in UAAP. 

The Soaring Falcons shattered University of the East's Final Four dreams as they pulled off a 74-71 victory at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Saturday afternoon.
Despite being out of contention for the title, Adamson's Pape Sarr remained explosive as he tallied for 22 points and 20 rebounds with his team improving to 3-10 win-loss record.
In the payoff period, UE's Clark Derige and Emil Palma tried to put a scare after a 5-0 barrage down the stretch, 69-71.
But the Red Warriors, who upset the Growling Tigers last Wednesday, didn't capitalize on Joseph Nalos' error as Chris Javier missed a three-pointer in the final play which left them trailing by three. 
Nalos put the icing of the cake after calmly sinking two free throws to seal the win, 74-71. 
Down 11 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Javier and rookie Fran Yu converted back-to-back baskets to inch closer, 62-65.
Sarr and Emil Palma traded baskets in the next play until Javier connected on a shot down low to slash the deficit by a whisker, 66-67. 
In the third canto, the San Marcelino-based ballers left UE scorless in five minutes and went for a huge 16-0 run, highlighted by a Pape Sarr monster dunk, to register their biggest lead, 64-44.  
Edison Batiller later stopped the bledding for his team after piloting a 10-1 rally to trim down Adamson's lead to 11, 54-65. 

The Falcons grabbed the momentum early in the first quarter as JD Tungcab made a baseline basket to zoom in their gap to 10, 22-12.  

They shot an impressive 55.14 percent from the field in the first half.
The Red Warriors had a response before the end of the second frame as Edgar Charcos bucketed a triple from the corner just in time before buzzer to cut Adamson's lead to four, 44-48.  
Derige topscored for 17 points in a losing effort for UE, which needs to rely in other teams to make it to the semifinals after dropping to 4-8 this season.


Boxscores:

ADAMSON 74 - Sarr 22, Tungcab 14, Nalos 11, J.Garcia 7, Escalambre 5, Ochea 5, Capote 3, Marallo 2.


UE 71 - Derige 17, Palma 11, Charcos 9, Javier 9, J.Varilla 8, Abanto 4, De Leon 4, Yu 4, Batiller 3, Sta. Ana 2. 


Quarterscores: 24-10, 48-44, 65-54, 74-71