UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas coach Pido Jarencio was left bewildered on the sidelines yesterday, pondering what went wrong after the Tigers allowed the Falcons of Adamson to pounce on them in the second half.

The Soaring Falcons humbled the Growling Tigers 69-56 to get back on track in the 87th UAAP basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Adamson coach Nash Racela said his wards’ big efforts spelled the big difference.

“I’m happy with the effort that our players gave today. I just look at the stats, we outrebounded a big team like UST so that just means that they’ve put in the effort today,” Racela, who got 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists from Matthew Montebon, said.

“The last couple of games, we’re struggling with our focus, right?

“So, I didn’t really know how they will play today but yeah, they made their adjustments, played a lot better today and it favored us,” he added.

AJ Fransman, a transferee from Enderun Colleges, added 11 markers and 10 boards while Royce Mantua had 11 against his former team.

The win atoned for the Falcons’ 52-82 loss to the defending champions La Salle Green Archers last Wednesday and rose to 2-1 early in the collegiate cage wars.

UST, coming off a morale-boasting 74-64 triumph over Ateneo five days ago, absorbed its first loss for a 2-1 card.

After the Tigers took an early 20-13 lead, Adamson charged back and grabbed a 33-32 cushion at the half and unleashed a vicious 17-1 blitz that made it 52-38 going into the fourth quarter.

The Falcons held UST to just six points in the third canto while scoring 19.

“Tingin ko, there were some doubts heading into the game after struggling the last few days. What the first half showed was we could stay with them. After the break, it’s a realization na puwede pala despite UST having a stronger line-up and support compared to last year,” Racela said.

“Kaya pala nating sumabay. That triggered it in the second half. Our defense was commendable.”

Nic Cabañero was the lone Tiger in double-digits with 16 points and five rebounds while Christian Manaytay and Mo Tounkara chipped in nine and seven markers, respectively.