MANILA -- Adamson University survived a gritty University Santo Tomas, 75-71, in the 73rd UAAP men's basketball tournament at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Lester Alvarez topscored for the Soaring Falcons with 22 points, two points shy of his career-high posted last year, plus two rebounds, two assists and steal.
"Crucial talaga para sa amin na mag-step up lalo na pa pag patapos na ang laro. Ang sabi nga ni coach sa amin, kayang-kaya naming talunin ang lahat ng teams sa UAAP," he said.
Janus Lozada and Alex Nuyles, meanwhile, teamed up for 19 points to put AdU at a tie with De La Salle in second place (3-1), half game behind idle Far Eastern University (4-0).
The nip-and-tuck affair also produced 16 triples for UST, which tied the league-best record seen in the UP-UST duel last July 22 and NU versus Adamson in September 7, 2006.
UST dropped to an even 2-2 card with the loss as Jeric Teng exploded for a career-high 23 points in a match dotted with seven deadlocks and 11 leadchanges. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)