MANILA – With their Final Four hopes getting slimmer by the day, the Adamson Falcons felt it necessary to win big.

And win they did as the Falcons dealt the National University (NU) Bulldogs their worst defeat of the season via 79-50 rout on Saturday in the 72nd University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball at the FilOil Fying V Arena.

Senior Falcon Aldrin Margallo drilled in all of his career-high 11 points in the first half while the other veterans took over in the next half to post the season’s most lopsided win.

Leo Canuday, Jan Colina and Derrick Canada combined for 18 points in the third canto where the Falcons took control for good.

Adamson transformed an 11-point halftime lead to 27, 72-45, capped off by Canuday’s back-to-back triples at the end of the third period.

The Falcons, who improved to 3-7, aim to sweep their remaining games and hope the rest of the teams in the upper bracket start losing their games to gain a crack at the Final Four.

“Ang ganda ng nilaro namin samantalang ang pangit sa kanila.  Pinaghandaan namin ng husto ang depensa namin kasi napansin ko sa tape reviews namin na panay kick out and drive lang sila (Bulldogs),” explained Adamson mentor Leo Austria.

The Falcons did work doubly hard on defense as they limited the Bulldogs to a season-low 13 second half points.

NU only shot 30 percent from the field as it failed to repeat its 76-70 win over Adamson in the first round.

It was the biggest margin of victory for the Falcons, who lost by only an average of 3.0 points in five of their seven losses.

They have now won two of their last three games including a 10-point win against De La Salle University last week to fan their Final Four bid.

Meanwhile, the loss relegated the Bulldogs all alone at the bottom of the standings with a 2-8 mark. By Alder T. Almo

The scores:

AdU 79 - Canuday 12, Margallo 11, Colina 11, Nuyles 10, Canada 8, Alvarez 8, Galinato 6, Camson 6, Cabrera 5, Basilio 2, Penalosa 0, Sandoval 0, Ruiz 0, Lozada 0, Lapitan 0.

NU 50 – Baloran 16, Terso 10, Hermosisima 9, Luy 3, Batac 3, Tungcul 2, Singh 2, Ponferrada 2, Manito 2, Roy 1, Malanday 0, Magat 0, Fabula 0, Cabaluna 0.

Quarters: 29-20, 48-37, 72-45, 79-50.