Lady Falcons sweep 1st round on miracle shot
Manila, Philippines – The Adamson Lady Falcons leaned on Anna Buendia’s buzzer-beating triple to sweep the first round of eliminations, leaving Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws stunned, 62-61, in the UAAP Season 73 women’s basketball on Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Buendia struggled from the field all game long shooting only 4-of-12 but delivered when it mattered most.
The Lady Tamaraws appeared headed to the victory when Jocy Positos scored in the final 1.7 seconds to put FEU ahead, 61-59.
Adamson quickly sued for timeout.
Sandel inbounded the ball to Buendia who quickly hoisted up a miracle shot that at the buzzer. It was only her three-point field goal made in seven tries.
It was a sorry loss for the Lady Tamaraws, who fell to 6-1, while the Lady Falcons completed a 7-0 sweep of the first round.
The Lady Tamaraws battled back from 52-55 deficit inside the final four minutes to regain the lead on free throws by Allana Lim and Raiza Palmera, 58-56. Buendia tied the count at 58-all before Lim split her charities to give FEU a precarious 1-point lead, 59-58, with 1:32 left, setting the stage for the wild finish.
Buendia wound up with 9 points while reigning MVP Analyn Almasan led the way for Adamson with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Raizal Palmera paced the Lady Tamaraws with 23 points while Lim had 13 and 15 rebounds.
The much awaited clash of last season’s title protagonists did not disappoint as they battled toe-to-toe on 10 deadlocks and 4 lead changes until the buzzer.
In the other game, National University Lady Bulldogs claimed their second win of the season after blasting University of the East Lady Warriors, 79-67.
Jovelyn Mejia led the Lady Bulldogs with 22 markers and 6 assists but it was center Carmina Laguindanum who anchored the win.
Laguindanum scored 20 points and grabbed a record 30 rebounds, 10 on the offensive glass. It was the most ever recorded since Imperium Technology started to archive the league statistics in 2003.
Laguindanum previously had 27 rebounds against UP last July 11 and 26 boards against UST last Aug. 8.
NU improved to 2-5 while UE skidded down to 0-7.
The Scores:
AdU 62 – Almasan 25, Mangahas 12, Sandel 9, Buendia 9, Ortega 4, Roque 3, Penaranda 0, Bernardo 0.
FEU 61 – Palmera 23, Lim 13, Columna 5, Astrero 5, Supnet 4, Borja 4, Yazon 3, Positos 2, Leviste 2, Gabriel 0, Tanaman 0. Soriano 0, Cabochan 0.
Quarters: 10-16, 26-26, 46-43, 62-61.
NU 79 – Mejia 22, Laguindanum 20, Cudal 14, Bonleon 9, Batnag 6, Meneses 3, Mandap 2, Santos 1, Ramos 1, Alla 1, Pama 0, Letigio 0.
UE 67 – Resultay 22, Ventura 21, Tan 8, Junsay 6, Vergara 4, Cabrera 4, Dollero 2, Gatmaitan 0, Silvestre 0, Monzales 0, Floralde 0.
Quarters: 27-22, 44-43, 59-58, 79-67.
- Alder T. Almo
