The Richmond Oilers will enter the APCRAA Basketball Tournament Finals for the first time in team history after defeating Team OGs in their do-or-die Game 3 semifinals game, 96-88 on Saturday, July 29 at the APC Gymnasium.
The Oilers will face familiar foe Gummy Bears in the best-of-three championship showdown which begins on August 5. Both teams have met in the semifinals twice in the past two seasons and on both instances, the Gummy Bears (formerly known as Cookies & Team and Bumblebees) ended up advancing to the finals.
Lavesh Chandnani prvided the push needed to take the lead early in the game, hitting 4 out of 5 shots in the three point line. He ended up with a stat line of 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Justine Abequibel became the team’s top scorer with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists. Jerl Ferrer and Renzo Macaraeg had double-double outputs. Ferrer finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists while Macaraeg scored 16 points, grabbed 18 boards, with 2 assists.
For the OGs, Pepe Canseco had a double-double output of 27 points and 17 rebounds. JP Redelick finished with 22 points, 2 points shy of scoring his 1000th career points, with 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Ralph Artigas had a stat line of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
THE SCORES:
RICHMOND OILERS (96): Abequibel 23, Macaraeg 18, Ferrer 16, Chandnani 16, Masa 12, Bayog 6, Sombilon 5, Conta 0, Cerdeña 0
OGs (88): Canseco 27, Redelick 22, Artigas 10, Sulit 9, Timbre 8, Rivera 4, Esguerra 3, Montemayor 2, Mejia 2, Batuhan 1
BOXSCORES: 31-23, 48-40, 70-58, 96-88
REFEREES: E. Melendrez, D. Pimentel, D. Maligaya
FIBA LIVESTATS: https://fibalivestats.dcd.shared.geniussports.com/u/APC/2293780/