MANILA, Philippines – When rookies Jerrick Ahanmisi and Robbie Manalang entered the court Sunday, September 4, they had the element of surprise on their side.
But after the final buzzer sounded, they became marked men.
“I’m confident in these two guys,” comebacking head coach Franz Pumaren said of Ahanmisi and Manalang. “I think they’re smart enough to help us. Shooting has been there. Now the downside is for sure they (other teams) know who Jerrick Ahanmisi and Rob Manalang are already.”
Ahanmisi and Manalang combined for 44 points when the Falcons debuted with an impressive 104-85 victory over the UP Fighting Maroons in the UAAP Season 79 men’s basketball tournament.
Ahanmisi, brother to Rain or Shine’s Maverick in the PBA, had a particularly impressive performance good enough for a new record as his 28 points were the most scored by a rookie since 2003, when Imperium began handling UAAP stats.
The young guard sizzled from long range, firing 6-of-7 triples and dropping 13 markers in the third quarter.
Manalang, on the other hand, led Adamson’s fourth quarter assault that helped turn back UP’s rally to finish with 16 points along with 9 assists. Ahanmisi was plus 20 in exactly 30 minutes of play while Manalang was plus 31 in over 29 minutes.
“UP probably just targeted Papi Sarr but with the performance of Jerrick and Rob, now they’re going to be marked men. I think they’ll be scouted already,” noted, Pumaren, who admitted he was “lucky” to have recruited Ahanmisi.
Ahanmisi, out of Village Christian High School in Los Angeles, tried out for La Salle, Ateneo, and NU but none of those worked out.
“I’m just doing whatever my coaches tell me to do,” Ahanmisi said of possibly becoming one of the new go-to guys for Adamson. “Whatever they tell me to do, that’s the role I’m going to play for my team.”
He added his brother Maverick told him to play hard before the game.
{source}
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShotChart?src=hash">#ShotChart</a> of J. Ahanmisi earlier who shot an almost perfect 10/11 from the field en route to 28 big Pts for ADU. <a href="https://t.co/O8q6N1pgJ5">pic.twitter.com/O8q6N1pgJ5</a></p>— Pong Ducanes (@ompongski) <a href="https://twitter.com/ompongski/status/772399359975493632">September 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
{/source}
Manalang, a 5-foot-7 guard from Villa Park High School in Orange County, was already on the Adamson squad when Pumaren arrived, so it was a matter of improving his skill set.
“It was a lot of fun. Everything I ever wanted to do was play basketball so it was great to come out with a victory,” Manalang said.
“I guess we were able to polish their skills. Because of my coaches I think their skills improved a lot since day one,” Pumaren said. “Maybe they just didn’t scout us very well.”
The Falcons are seen as one of the dangerous dark horses this season with champion coach Pumaren at the helm, and they certainly sent out quite the message with their record-setting first win.
(READ: Yay or nay? Predicting the UAAP Season 79 basketball tournament)
Adamson’s 104 points marked the first time a team breached 100 points in a game in 7 years since UST defeated NU, 104-98, on July 16, 2009, per UAAP statistician Pong Ducanes.
The team shot 66.07% from the field, which went down as highest field goal percentage since 2003. Adamson likewise caught fire with 13-of-19 triples for a 68.4% clip.
Adamson’s next assignment is defending champion FEU on Sunday, September 11, 2 pm at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. (SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 79 basketball first round) – Rappler.com