Team ASPAC will be in the APCRAA Basketball Tournament (ABT) Men’s Division Finals for the second consecutive season after defeating Team Alpha, 79-72, in their do-or-die semifinals match on Saturday, August 26 at the APC Gymasium.
This will be ASPAC’s third ABT finals appearance since the league was revived in 2015.
Most Valuable Player candidate Mark Pagaduan of Team ASPAC is the game’s top scorer with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists. He is followed by Carlo Aboboto, who finished with 14 points and 2 rebounds.
At Team Alpha’s side, Jhonel De Luna was the top scorer with 19 points, plus 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Alex Tagle and Mark Rivera contributed in scoring with 12 points each.
Unlike in their first semis meeting, Team ASPAC started the game strong and prevented another Alpha first quarter run. Alpha was able to decrease the lead to a single point in the third quarter but a scoring run led by Aboboto and Pagaduan pulled ASPAC away, maintaining the lead until the end of the game.
Team ASPAC will meet Team OGs in the championship game on September 2 at 7:00pm. The awarding ceremonies will immediately follow.
HOW THEY SCORED: (FIBA LiveStats)
ASPAC (79): Pagaduan 27, Aboboto 14, Gamboa 12, Pe Benito 10, Vasquez 6, Ilustre 4, Armedilla 3, Agdamag 2, Gonzales, Plan 0, Magbitang 0
ALPHA (72): De Luna 19, Castanares 14, Tagle 12, Rivera 12, Perez 6, Dosado 4, Montojo M 3, Ysulan 2, Lim 0, Montojo J 0
PERIOD SCORES: 19-10, 37-34, 57-49, 79-72