Here’s what we saw as the Adamson Soaring Falcons emerged victorious in a low-scoring affair against equally-rebuilding FEU in their UAAP Season 87 opener.
The Adamson Soaring Falcons kicked off their post-Jerom Lastimosa era on a winning note after edging out the FEU Tamaraws 59-47 in UAAP Season 87’s opening weekend.
The Tams carved out a 19-8 advantage midway through the second quarter, before Adamson turned things around coming out of halftime. From there, it was all Soaring Falcons until the final whistle.
Here’s what we saw from that contest.
The inevitable learning curves
Today’s second game was a battle of rebuilding programs. Adamson lost a number of seniors besides Lastimosa, while FEU went through a major revamp with Chambers’ entry. Likewise, the Tams have also lost a key gunner in LJay Gonzales.
It’s also worth noting that FEU is fielding about five rookies: ex-Baby Tams Veejay Pre, Janrey Pasol, and Jedrick Daa, Fil-Am Select’s Adam Nakai, and foreign student-athlete Adam Nakai.
Both teams misfired badly after missing a share of easy looks. Adamson finished with 30 percent field goal percentage (19 of 64), while FEU wasn’t much better either at 27.4 percent (19 of 52).
“I’m not really surprised that they struggled today because going to the UAAP, the opening, the last couple of weeks we were struggling as a group. And it showed, especially in the first half where the team wasn’t really settling down,” Adamson head coach Nash Racela said.
Welcome debut for Royce Mantua
A former UST Growling Tiger, Royce Mantua brings length and athleticism as a six-foot-five winger. Today, he returns to UAAP action after serving his one-year residency with Adamson.
Mantua scored a game-high 14 markers for the Falcons, built on three out of five triples made. As Adamson navigates through a rebuild, perhaps he’ll finally break out in San Marcelino.
Either way, it’s a stepping stone as he helps them navigate a new era.
“Even these two guys that performed today, I didn’t know what I was going to get from them. But yeah, it’s good that they delivered today because we will do every contribution that they could give us. Not just them but of course the rest of the team,” Racela added, referring to topscorers Mantua (14 points) and Matty Erolon (10 points).
The ‘baby’ Tams have finally gotten their feet wet
Learning curves aside, FEU did show promise today. As mentioned, they were up 11 points before the Adamson Soaring Falcons reorganized themselves out of halftime.
As Racela puts it, FEU was able to “settle down” earlier, which allowed for better execution early on. And while it’s a first game, much of FEU’s core were top highschoolers. Just look at the Baby Tams trio of Pre, Pasaol, and Daa.
“Yeah, credit to the players that they have, they have veterans eh. Diba sila [Cholo] Anonuevo, [Jorick] Bautista, and then they even have rookies who I consider veterans kasi mga babad sa laro ‘yan sa high school eh. Pre, Daa, Pasaol,” Racela explained.
Bautista topscored for FEU with 14 markers, while Anonuevo finished with five. Pre finished with eight, Daa with four, and Pasaol with five points against Adamson.
“So that’s why I wasn’t surprised that they settled down first. Took us maybe 30 minutes. No, no no, mga 25 minutes before we started settling down. Yeah, naka-adjust ‘yung mga players [Adamson]. Bumaba nang onti ‘yung emosyon nila,” said Racela.
And despite the loss, FEU has a silver lining: their rookies have finally gotten the first game anxieties out of them.
“And so, we knew that the lights were going to be a little different. Getting them comfortable to play in this atmosphere because we do know Janrey [Pasaol], Veejay [Pre], Adam [Nakai], Jedrick [Daa], and Mo [Konateh] are very talented. But it was definitely a first-time experience game for them as well,” FEU head coach Sean Chambers explained in a follow-up interview.
Banner image courtesy of the UAAP Media Bureau.