Falcons' Mental Toughness

Aug.6, Saturday

 Keeping the Archers Aim Off.

1-3
Arnold Van Opstal vs Lionel Manyara --- Anatomy of a Block

2-3

Great Timing.

3-3

Van Opstal was called for travelling after this defensive gem 
by Manyara very early in the game.

Drive and Draw.

Alex makes a drop pass to Lionel in this piece of first half action.

DLSU's Little Big Man.

LA Revilla makes sure everybody's on the same page.

   Bad Calls - Bad Afternoon.
Saying the F word ?  Simon Atkins tries to control his temper lest he be slapped a technical.  He was extremely peeved at the fouls the refs had been calling on him  [and the rest of the La Salle team].  The Green Gallery was in uproar too at this stage of the match.

Simon failed to score on his two 3-point attempts,
and fouled out after 17 minutes on the floor

  His 2-point output came courtesy of 2 foul shots. 

Kick Out. 
Norbert Torres [shown here being doubled by Colina and Camson] 
along with Yutien Andrada, combined for 25 points.

Torres put in 14 while Andrada added 11.

The rest of their team mates, though, scored below double figures.

 Mismatch.
LA Revilla in a futile attempt to block a Nuyles three.

Revilla, who spent 25 minutes on the floor, managed only 2 points

Double Double.

11 points and 10 rebounds [5 offensive] Courtesy of Eric C.

Why am I not surprised ?

Another offensive board and conversion here by Camson ---

against three Archers, no less !

No-Fly Zone.
Olan Tampus gets a taste of the Camson-Brondial mid-air special.

L-A-N-C-E 
Lozada, Alvarez, Nuyles, Camson, and Etrone --

were Adamson's leading scorers that afternoon.

Lozada had 14, Alvarez-18, Nuyles-12, Camson-11, and Etrone-4.

 Run and Gun.
The Soaring Falcons ended every quarter ahead of the Archers.  And even if DLSU outscored Adu by 8 points in the third, the fourth started with 
Adamson still on top [49-45].

Faking two Archers, Alvarez look-alike Jerick Canada - - -

- - - slices through the defense to get into scoring position.

Canada contributed only 2 points.

La Salle knew they had the ability [kaya talaga] to overtake Adamson, being behind by single figures only -- thing is, Adamson managed repeatedly to keep them at bay, styming the Green Archers' surges with clutch conversions.  

With time down to 53 seconds and the game still being hotly contested at
[64 Adu -- 58 DLS], a very crucial sequence occured when DLSU stole the ball, giving Sam Marata a wide open lane straight to the basket.

Sam sprinted [with the La Salle crowd screaming wildly as the Adamson fans held their collective breath] towards the basket.  He layed up -- the ball trickled out.  Adamson got the defensive board.  

La Salle never got to score again even though Revilla and Torres somehow managed 3 desperate tries.  Alvarez put the finishing touches of the game with 2 free throws in the last 24 seconds for the final tally of 66-58, Adamson.

Understandably - - -

Inconsolable.

Happy Man.

Coach Austria flashes a jubilant smile at the post game interview.

brosi gonzales

NU's Fifth Loss

Aug.6, Saturday

Game Decided on the Foul Line

Mbe had decent numbers after two quarters -- 

10 points, 4 rebounds, and two blocks

One can never too sure even if you're against an erstwhile cellar dweller

like the Warriors - who had everything to gain - maybe it was just a matter of time before they would finally be able to stay consistent for four quarters.

Jerry Codinera's boys registered a 54.8% field goal clip in the first half,

 better than NU's 46.9%.  The Warriors finished the game with a 44%

field goal clip while the Bulldogs finished with 41%.

Every year fresh talent/rising stars emerge among the 8 UAAP teams. 

Shej Sumang from UE belongs in that category. 

In this sequence, Shej comes out of nowhere to convert on this putback,

catching the Bulldogs by surprise.

Mbe wins this battle for possession over a pesky Lucas Tagarda.

Along with Zamar, Sumang, and  Enguio, John Noble made double figures -

in the first half alone.  The first half ended at 41 all and the third quarter ended with a deadlock too, this was at 54 all.

The NU community has very high hopes for this years team, what with the entry of  Bobby Parks Jr. to complement sophomore Emmanuel Mbe and 
veterans Joseph "Jolas" Terso, Ajeet Singh, and Glenn Khubontin and youngblood in the likes of Lee Villamor, Jul-Ashri Ignacio, 
and Cederick Labing-Isa.

School spirit manifests itself in many forms. 
The female form is my favorite.

.

With only a few seconds left in the game and down by only 1 [72-71], 

 NU went to its First Option - Bobby Ray.

Parks handily succeeded in fishing for a foul to put himself on the line

 for the winning 2 points.

Then the Unexpected happened.

The Big Boss was watching.



Missing one free throw and making the other 
would have at least forged an overtime  - - -

But when Parks missed the second foul shot too,

NU fans' jaws all seemed to drop in shock

-- as the UE gallery erupted in one collective euphoric victory yell.

Another won game lost, this time, by the higher seeded Bulldogs.

Finally, a WIN by the Warriors !!

brosi gonzales