The ASPAC Boys will advance to the APCRAA Alumni Basketball Tournament (AABT) 2016 season men’s division championship round after defeating Team Alpha, 78-74, on Saturday, October 1 at the APC Gymnasium.
This will be the second finals appearance of the ASPAC Boys since joining the alumni league in 2015.
Lavesh Chadnani and Carlo Aboboto led the ASPAC Boys in scoring with 19 points each. Joseph Gamboa came in second with 13 points.
Alpha’s Jhonel de Luna carried most of the scoring chores for his team with 32 points and 13 rebounds. Alex Tagle and Pepe Canseco finished with 13 points each.
Team ASPAC built a solid lead in the second quarter with 13 points but a scoring run by Team Alpha erased the ASPAC lead and were able to go ahead at halftime, 42-41.
Team Alpha tried to sustain their momentum in the third quarter but ASPAC regained the lead by the fourth quarter. Carlo Aboboto was called with a crucial offensive foul in the fourth quarter and shoved the referee after making the call. He was called with a technical foul and was ejected out of the game as this was counted as his fifth and final foul.
Team Alpha were able to build a 6 point margin after the incident but the ASPAC Boys regained composure thanks to Joseph Gamboa’s 3 point shot and Lavesh Chadnani and Mark Pagaduan’s made shots, grabbing the lead with 3 points, with 1:32 remaining in the game.
Alpha had an opportunity to decrease the lead back to 1 point but Jhonel De Luna and Jeff Dosado missed their respective shots. With 37 seconds remaining and with options left, they are forced to commit a foul to ASPAC Boys’ Kevin Vasquez. Vasquez split his charities but was able to have a two-possession lead of 4 points, sealing the win for his team.
The ASPAC Boys will meet Team Bumblebees on October 15 to determine the champions of the men’s division tournament.
Boxscores (click here for full stats):
ASPAC Boys (78): Aboboto 19, Chadnani 19, Gamboa 13, Pagaduan 8, Plan 5, Agdamag V 5, Vasquez 5, Pe Benito 4, Ramos 0, Illustre 0, Gonzales 0
Alpha (74): De Luna 32, Canseco 13, Tagle 13, Castanares 10, Dosado 4, Lim 2, Montojo J 0, Perez 0
Quarterscores: 25-14, 41-42, 56-60, 78-74