Falcons shackle Lee, Warriors

Manila, Philippines – The Adamson Falcons shackled Paul Lee and the University of the East Red Warriors to move to a share of second place with a 69-56 win on Thursday in the UAAP Season 73 at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Falcons put the handcuffs on Lee, who came into this game averaging a league-best 20 points per game.

Fil-Guamanian William Stinnett and Janus Lozada limited Lee to just 5 points on a woeful 2-for-16 shooting from the floor as Adamson ran away with their fourth win in six games. It was Lee’s lowest output in the last two years.

Adamson tied idle De La Salle Green Archers at second spot behind Far Eastern University Tamaraws’ league-leading 6-0 mark.

“Ang talagang game plan namin ay ma-stop si Paul (Lee) dahil most of the time nasa kaniya ang bola. By beating UE, we have a good chance of finishing at the top 2 after the first round, which is our goal,” Adamson coach Leo Austria said.

With Lee shooting bricks, the Falcons opened up double digit spread that went as high as 23 points, 47-24, in the third period.

The Warriors came within 10 points in the payoff period when James Martinez hit his stride from beyond the arc. He hit five triples in that quarter alone to pump up the Warriors’ sagging bid.

But Stinnett complemented his great defensive job with a five-point outburst in the clutch including a dagger three-pointer in the last 2:55 to push the lead back to 13, 65-52.

Alex Nuyles paced the Falcons with 19 points, 9 coming in the opening period where the Falcons seized control of the game, taking up a 17-8 lead.

The high-flying Nuyles added nine rebounds and four assists. Sophomore forward Eric Camson chipped in 15 points and seven caroms while Lozada and Stinnett combined for 19 markers.

Martinez topscored for the Warriors with 18 points, all coming from the three-point zone, while Kenneth Acibar had 12 and 11 rebounds that went for naught.

The Scores:

AdU 69 – Nuyles 19, Camson 15, Lozada 10, Stinnett 9, Colina 6, Alvarez 6, Manyara 4, Brondial 0, Galinato 0, Canada 0, Cabrera 0, Basilio 0.

UE 56 – Martinez 18, Acibar 12, Rosopa 6, Enguio 6, Lee 5, Reyes 3, Santos 0, Razon 0, Casejeros 0, Tagarda 0, Duran 0, Ayala 0.

Quarterscores: 17-8, 31-20, 50-31, 69-56.

Alder Almo, UAAP Sports