More than three decades of title drought quenched.
Adamson University made sure that there will be no repeat of National University Nazareth School’s comeback as the Baby Falcons punctuated the deciding Finals Game 3 with a lopsided 90-73 win to capture the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 86 boys’ basketball crown Sunday at the FilOil Ecooil Centre in San Juan.
JC Bonzalida had a performance to remember in his last game in an Adamson uniform, posting a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Baby Falcons’ first title since the Charlie Dy-mentored squad orchestrated a six-peat in 1993.
The record still stands as the longest high school championship run in UAAP.
But the day belonged to the current crop of Adamson dribblers.
Unlike in last Wednesday’s 64-67 loss where the Bullpups clawed back from a 15-point hole, the Baby Falcons ensured there would be no second half meltdown to win the best-of-three series, 2-1.
“I would like to thank God, as well as the Adamson community for this championship. This is a very sweet victory,” a jubilant coach Mike Fermin said.
Adamson broke the game wide open in the second half, turning a slender 49-45 lead midway through the third canto into an 86-59 breakaway after Earl Medina’s slam dunk with 3:15 remaining.
Mark Esperanza, who scored nine of his 13 points in the first half where Adamson built a 43-32 lead, was named the Finals Most Valuable Player. He averaged 9.3 points, 3.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and two steals per game.
“We worked hard for this. We listened to our coaches and trusted each other. We fought until the final buzzer,” Esperanza said.
The triumph also gave a fitting send-off to other graduating Baby Falcons Tebol Garcia, Vince Reyes and Gene Carillo.
