Team Bumblebees remains the only unbeaten team in the elimination round of the APCRAA Alumni Basketball Tournament (AABT) 2016 season Men’s Division as they defeated Team Alpha, 79-77 on Saturday, September 10 at the APC Gymnasium.
Norman Ringor of Team Bumblebees is in the running for the Most Vaulable Player award at the end of the season as he tallied his fourth straight double-double game, finishing with 16 points, 21 rebounds and 2 assists. Team captain Brix Estabillo also had a solid performance with 26 points and 2 assists.
For Team Alpha, Jhonel De Luna led his team in scoring with 26 points, followed by Alex Tagle with 22 points.
The game was tightly contested; both teams were only able to secure the lead for up to six points and went down the wire in the fourth quarter. Alex Tagle was able to decrease the Bumblebee lead to 1 point into the last two minutes of the game with a three point shot from a high of 6 points.
In the ensuing play, Joemark Belardo of Team Bumblebees made a fastbreak layup to give them a three point cushion with 1:05 remaining. De Luna then made a followup shot from a Pepe Canseco missed jumpshot to decrease the lead to 1 point with 15 seconds remaining. Alpha then intentionally fouled Estabillo who splitted his charity shots. A potential game tying basket was set up by Team Alpha but the ball was turned over and Belardo was able to steal the ball.
With one game remaining, Team Bumblebees will have the opportunity to sweep the elimination round as they will face Team OGs on September 17. Meanwhile, Team Alpha can increase their opportunity to get one of the last two seeds in the semifinals as they will be up against Team Warriors on the same date.
Boxscores (click here for full stats):
Bumblebees (79): Estabillo 26, Ringor 16, Belardo 16, Prion 9, Altre 5, Villas 3, De Guzman 2, Ibasco 2, Estoesta 0, Grepo 0, Pring 0
Alpha (77): De Luna 26, Tagle 22, Dionisio 8, Castanares 8, Canseco 8, Lim 5, Montojo J 0, Perez 0, Dosado 0
Quarterscores: 19-21, 40-42, 56-57, 79-77