Adamson parades vets, blue chip rookies for Filoil joust

MANILA, Philippines – After making the Final Four of the UAAP two years running, the Adamson Soaring Falcons hope that the third time will be the charm when they display their wares, first in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup that tips off on May 5 at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The returning players from last year’s campaign are Jerrick Ahanmisi, Jerom Lastimosa, Simon Camacho, Jed Colonia, Kristian Bernardo, Keith Zaldivar, Ivan Maata and Vince Magbuhos. 

Sean Manganti and Jerie Pingoy have graduated while CJ Catapusan has transferred to the University of the Philippines. Not in the lineup is gunner Jonathan Espeleta and forward Egie Boy Mojica, who are both injured, and Wilfred Magbuhos.

Coming up from the Baby Falcons squad in the juniors are savvy swingman Joem Sabandal, bullstrong Ap Manlapaz, Adam and Andrey Doria, former University of Visayas Baby Lancer Joshua Yerro, former Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagle Joshua Fuentebella, Arellano Junior Chief stud Aaron Fermin and Congolese center Lenda Demarcia, who impressed when he was first unveiled in the BBI tourney of last season.

With Sabandal, Adamson strengthened its playmaking, which will now be overseen by Lastimosa and Colonia. Yerro adds scoring socks while Manalpaz will help fill the void vacated by Catapusan.

The presence of four Baby Falcons underscores the strength of the program in the high school division. Should all four make it come the UAAP, this will be the most number of recruits from the juniors division in quite some time. The last star from the Baby Falcons to come up was JD Tungcab who played for two years before transferring to UP.

And if Demarcia’s performance in other tournaments will translate into the Filoil tournament and the UAAP, he will be a force to reckon with.

The Falcons make their tournament debut on May 7 when they take on Emilio Aguinaldo College at 1:30 p.m.