Team OGs keeps their playoff chances alive as they tally their first victory against defending champions Team Warriors at the continuation of the APCRAA Alumni Basketball Tournament (AABT) 2016 season on Saturday, September 3 at the APC Gymnasium.
In what serves as Team OG’s redemption in losing their championship game to Team Warriors in last year’s second conference, the Warriors must win their remaining two games in hoping to make it into the playoff round.
Mando Batuhan led the OGs with a career high 33 points with 7 rebounds and 2 steals. JP Redelick also had a good game with 17 points with 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
The Warriors, who only played with 6 players were lead by Guess dela Cuesta and Archie Gratil, scoring 23 and 17 points respectively. George Nartia dominated the boards for the Warriors, grabbing 14 rebounds while scoring 10 points for a double-double game.
Both teams were exchanging leads in the game and emotions ran high as several warnings and technical fouls were called on both teams. Mhar Paraiso, who had an awful night in scoring began making his shots in the fourth quarter as they are trying to pull away from the Warriors. The game was very close up to the last two minutes. Mando Batuhan and JP Redelick made their crucial free throws to secure a three point lead with 48 seconds left in the game.
The Warriors still had a chance to regain the lead but bad passes spelled doom to their game. The OG win was sealed with a three point shot by JP Redelick with 21 seconds remaining in the game, pushing their lead to six points.
Both teams will be back in action on September 17 as the OGs will face tournament leaders Team Bumblebees at 6:30pm, while the Warriors will meet Team Alpha at 8pm.
Boxscores (click here for full stats):
OGs (74): Batuhan 33, Redelick 17, Prayco 8, Paraiso 6, Diaz 5, Go 2, Aotay 2, Yardan 1, Agito 0, Viray 0, Artymiak 0, Beltran 0, Datukon 0
Warriors (68): Dela Cuesta 23, Gratil 17, Evangelista 14, Nartia 10, Nones 2, Jabile 2, Gopico 0
Quarterscores: 17-12, 32-30, 49-49, 74-68