MANILA, Philippines – Adamson University flexed extra defensive muscle in the waning seconds of its roller-coaster encounter with a stubborn De La Salle University to hack out a pulsating 70-68 squeaker on Sunday and tighten its grip on third place after the first round of the 73rd UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the PhilSports Arena.

The Falcons rallied from 7 points down entering the six-minute juncture of the final quarter before capping that stirring fightback with key defensive stops from Eric Camson and rookie William Stinnett in the last 20 seconds of the contest to preserve a 69-68 edge and move up at 5-2 going into the second round.

“We switched to zone in the fourth quarter realizing that we can’t contain their big men one-on-one and thankfully it paid off,” Adamson coach Leo Austria said. “They were quite surprised when we shifted to a zone because somehow they knew we’re not use to playing the zone.”

True enough, the Falcons made life miserable for La Salle’s big men in the paint midway through the fourth period as Adamson staged a crippling 12-4 blitz to erase a 52-57 third-quarter deficit and take a 65-64 lead with 4:06 left.

Lester Alvarez starred in that pivotal run as he clustered 7 straight points, including a momentum-seizing triple to shove Adamson within, 63-64, before Eric Camson propelled the Falcons upfront with a keyhole jumper.

Joshua Webb regained the lead for La Salle at the turn with a twisting lay-up to atone for a pair of botched free throws.

But a Camson putback and an Alex Nuyles up-and-under move sandwiched a Joel Tolentino basket, pushing Adamson ahead by a whisker, 69-68, as La Salle sued time to map out its counter-offensive.

Adamson was not yet done.

With 18 ticks left, Camson deflected a Tolentino drop pass to a cutting Yutein Andrada which spelled the Archers’ doom as La Salle was 4 fouls way from the penalty situation.

The Archers sent Camson to the stripe after reaching the limit and the burly Adamson slotman split his charities for a 70-68 count with still 12.9 seconds remaining.

La Salle again went back to the drawing board but the Falcons foiled its last-ditch attack anew as rookie William Stinnett tapped the leather off a driving Luigi dela Paz with 5.8 seconds left and Alvarez recovered the loose ball in the next sequence for the win.

Jan Colina finished with 16 points to lead Adamson, while Camson and Alvarez added 15 and 12, respectively. Stinnett scored a career-high 10 points, all in the second half where Adamson engaged La Salle to 7 deadlocks and 6 lead changes.

Dela Paz top-scored for La Salle with 13 points while Webb, Tolentino and Sam Marata chipped in 10 apiece.

“At second place, we have overachieved already considering that before the season I have projected only four wins for the team at the end of the first round. Now we have five,” Austria said of his wards, whose last best performance in the first round dated back in 1994 with Kenneth Duremdes, Marlou Aquino and EJ Feihl at the Falcons’ helm.

That 1994 Adamson unit finished second behind eventual champion University of Santo Tomas a year before the Final Four Format was introduced.

The Scores:

ADU 70 – Colina 16, Camson 15, Alvarez 12, Stinnett 10, Nuyles 7, Galinato 5, Canada 3, Lozada 2, Manyara 0, Etrone 0, Brondial 0, Cabrera 0.

DLSU 68 – Dela Paz 13, Webb 10, Tolentino 10, Marata 10, Mendoza 8, Andrada 8, Atkins 3, Tampus 2, Paredes 2, Villanueva 2, Vosotros 0, Elorde 0, Ferdinand 0.

Quarter scores: 15-18, 32-32, 52-59, 70-68.

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