UAAP Thriller: Falcons survive Tigers in 2 OTs to keep solo 2nd

It was a long Sunday in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament. Two humdinger encounters, 95 minutes of action-packed matches, and a combined 11 basketball periods. When the smoke cleared, Far Eastern University and Adamson emerged triumphant to bolster their respective Final Four aspirations. The league-leading Tamaraws repulsed the hard-fighting University of the East Warriors, 83-77, in overtime. Moments after the cardiac match between the Tamaraws and the Warriors, Adamson and University of Santo Tomas fought for 50 grueling minutes. The Falcons, who teetered on the brink of defeat in the first overtime, came back and pulled off an inspiring 81-76 double overtime victory over the Tigers. Thanks to Janus Lozada, who came through with a much-needed, game-tying triple in the closing seconds of the first overtime. The third-year wingman worked on a two-man game with guard Jerick Cañada, then, let loose a trey from right quarter court to send the game into second overtime. In the second OT, guys like William Stinnett, Roider Cabrera and Jan Colina delivered the finishing kick for the Falcons of coach Leo Austria, the same mentor who carried the squad to their last Final Four appearance in 2006. Stinnett came up with a big defensive gem on UST guard Jeric Fortuna, Cabrera made his only point of the night with his split charities and Colina scored on a put back of Cabrera’s missed shot to seal the Falcons’ seventh win in nine games for solo second place. "I think we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," said Austria, who steered the school to a semifinal appearance four years ago, the same year former ace Falcon Ken Bono won the Most Valuable Player award. Bono is now a member of the Coca-Cola Tigers (now known as Powerade) in the PBA. The loss was the sixth in nine games for UST. Lozada finished with 19 points, five rebounds and two steals. "It's really hard to win after two big wins over La Salle and FEU," said Austria. "I thought the players were really tired, but they refused to lose and they showed their big, fighting hearts. This is another examination or test that we’ve passed and it would really help us near our goal of making the Final Four." - RCJ, GMANews.TV