Akari-Adamson Falcons join Centro Escolar U on top as Scorpions fall

MANILA, Philippines — Akari-Adamson rained treys on Wangs Basketball in the pivotal third to fashion out a 90-71 victory and gain a share of the lead as Gamboa Coffee stopped Centro Escolar U, 100-83, in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig yesterday.

Sean Manganti, Jerrick Ahanmisi, Egie Mojica and Jonathan Espeleta combined for five triples after the halftime break as the Falcons broke away from a tight 36-35 contest to post a huge 66-49 bulge heading to the fourth.

That decisive 30-14 run proved enough to lift Adamson to its seventh victory in nine games, formalizing the Falcons’ stint in the playoffs.

“We still have to fine-tune a lot of things. We turned the ball over several times. So we need to work on those things to start maturing,” said Akari-AdU coach Franz Pumaren.

Earlier, the Coffee Lovers pounced on the CEU Scorpions’ listless start to post an early 27-15 lead then went on to clobber the erstwhile solo leaders to stay in the playoff hunt.

Coming off a huge 107-106 overtime win against Zark’s Burgers last Tuesday, the Coffee Lovers clamped down on defense late in the opening period to wrest control.