The Adamson Soaring Falcons won the hearts of basketball fans across the nation when they defeated the Ateneo Blue Eagles with a final score 74-70.
Considered as underdogs against the reigning UAAP Season 80 champions, Adamson fought a tough bout against Ateneo as they were pressured by their continuous scoring that led to a double digit lead in the first half.
Falcons' star player Jerrick Ahanmisi showed that he was still the offensive star that lead the Falcons last season. The spit-fire guard poured in 23 points and grabbed 4 rebounds to go along with a lone assist. Ahanmisi carried the offensive load at the end of the first half; this included a miraculous half-court shot that gave the Falcons the lead going into halftime.
The ingredient for the upset victory was coach Franz Pumaren's signature full-court press and the now popular "drive and kick" offence installed this off-season. Forcing turnovers in the half court and draining back breaking threes were enough to ground the Blue Eagles.
Adamson is off to the best possible start but the season has just begun with more than a handful of games left which tells that the Falcons need to show that this win was not by any means a fluke. If the team can maintain this kind of play, they might just be able to make it past the final four and bag the elusive championship.
The Falcons will face the Archers on Saturday, September 22
Photo Courtesy of The Adamson Chronicle