FIL-AMERICAN cager Sean Manganti helped the Adamson Soaring Falcons stand their ground in the last 3.8 seconds.
His defensive effort on Simon Camacho and only basket in the dying seconds propelled Adamson to 61-59 beating of Far Eastern University Sunday in the 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.
The 6’5” Manganti, who had a game-high 14 points, made up for a defensive mistake he had earlier in the dying seconds of the first half.
This was when he and Camacho got in the way of attempts by FEU’s Monbert Arong and Raymar Jose to score the final basket with 3.8 seconds left.
Manganti split his charity shot with no time left after he got fouled by Jose, sending the Soaring Falcons to their second straight win and sixth overall in 11 matches.
“We knew they were going to him. So we tried to distract him and make it hard for him,” said Manganti after he and Camacho forced Arong to give up the ball and hand it to Jose, who eventually turned the ball over.
Coach Franz Pumaren said they were able to second guess FEU’s play in the closing seconds and with their win, their chances of reaching the Final Four have improved.
“Defense took control. For a better team like FEU to be limited to 59 points is already an achievement,” said Pumaren.
The game was close and for Manganti, he said he was able to make up for the mistake of allowing FEU’s Stephen Roxas to score a triple at the end of the first half, as the Tams moved away, 32-30.
Robbie Manalang had 12 points for Adamson, while Jonathan Espeleta added 8 and Papi Sarr had six, including back-to-back hits at the start of the second half, which allowed them to grab a 50-44 lead.
Jose banged in a game-high 16 points for FEU, which saw the winning run end after seven matches, but is still in second spot at 8-3.
The Ateneo Blue Eagles, who beat La Salle, 83-71, the other day, now have a chance to keep up with them.
Games Wednesday (MOA Arena)
2 p.m. Ateneo vs FEU
4 p.m. Adamson vs UST