Franz prevails over Derrick, Dindo in "Pumaren Derby" as Adamson ousts UE to claim last FilOil playoff spot

By Ivan Saldajeno

SAN JUAN, MM--Coach Franz Pumaren got the better of his brothers Derrick and Dindo on Sunday as Adamson clinched the last seat to the FilOil Flying Preseason Premier Cup quarterfinals with an 84-82 win against UE at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

The Soaring Falcons lost a 12-point first half cushion and even trailed late in the game but made a crucial run in final minute and bucked off one final push by the Red Warriors at the death to complete the playoff cast in the preseason tilt.

Behind an early show of might by Papi Sarr, Adamson immediately raced to their largest lead at 12, the recent at 39-27 with 2:50 left in the second quarter even as Robbie Manalang's hot shooting kept UE at bay early in the third.

But Edgar Charcos and Alvin Pasaol joined forces in pulling a UE run later in the third that cut the lead to as low as two with less than a minute left in the quarter.

The Red Warriors continued their push and eventually got a 73-70 lead with 3:27 remaining in the fourth following a seesaw battle early in the period.

But Manalang buried back-to-back triples that sparked the game-turning 12-4 run that gave the Soaring Falcons an 82-77 cushion with 21.2 seconds to go in the game.

Pasaol kept the game interesting by scoring on a layup and a triple after a JD Tungcab split that draw UE to within one, 82-83, with 6.2 seconds left.

Jerrick Ahanmisi left the door open for UE to at least force overtime as he only made one of two free throws with five seconds left, but Bon-Bon Batiller sorrily missed a long trey at the buzzer that could have given UE the win.

Manalang, who made six triples all game long, finished with 21 points for Adamson, which will take on NU, a 68-65 winner over Arellano in the earlier game, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

[Related Story: NU takes top seed in Group A with squeaker against Arellano]

Sarr had 13 of his 17 points in the first quarter, nearly matching the entire output of UE in the first ten minutes. He also had 18 rebounds, one assist, and one block.

Tungcab made most of his 16 markers from the line, making 11 straight free throws at one stretch.

Pasaol finished with 17 markers, three rebounds, one steal, and one block for UE.

Box Scores:

Adamson 84-Manalang 21, Sarr 17, Tungcab 16, Ahanmisi 10, Paranada 7, Ochea 6, Manganti 5, Pasturan 2, Ng 0, Bernardo 0, Camacho 0, Espeleta 0

UE 82-Pasaol 17, Charcos 16, Penuela 13, Batiller 12, Palma 10, Acuno 4, Varilla 3, Gagate 2, Olayon 2, Armenion 2, Manalang 1, De Leon 0, Abanto 0, Larupay 0

Quarterscores: 22-16, 44-35, 63-60 84-82

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