OGs upset Bumblebees, advance to championship round

Team OGs won their semi-finals showdown against heavily-favored Team Bumblebees, 91-77, at the continuation of the 2015 APCRAA Alumni Basketball Tournament (AABT) 2nd conference Men’s Division playoffs on Saturday, December 5, at the APC Gymnasium.

JP Redelick, who was not able to play for almost half of the elimination round, made his presence felt at the semi-finals by scoring 20 points, with 15 from the three-point arc.

Another missing player in their elimination round campaign, Jon Batuhan, contributed 21 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists. Mhar Paraiso had a double-double game with 17 points, 13 rebounds plus 6 assists and 2 steals.

For the Bumblebees, Norman Ringor put up his usual numbers – 19 points and 12 rebounds – but shot poorly in the field, hitting 7 out of 22 attempts (31%).

Brix Estabillo and Ken Villas helped in the scoring chores with 24 and 15 points, respectively. Villas grabbed his career-high rebounds with 23 boards.

With Bumblebees’ Jeomark Belardo and Jake Estoesta absent in the semifinal game, Team OGs outplayed their opponents on every possession and neutralized Ringor’s scoring prowess.

The game was a close one for the first three quarters, with OGs only leading not higher than 10 points. But a 15-4 run by Team OGs with the help of Redelick and Diaz’ three-point markers broke the game wide open at the 8 minute mark of the fourth quarter, as the Bumblebees failed to stop the run.

The OGs will face the First Conference champions, Team Warriors in the championship playoff on December 12.

Boxscores (click here for full stats):

OGs (91): Batuhan 21, Diaz 20, Redelick 20, Paraiso 17, Aotay 8, Go 5, Agito 0, Artymiak 0, Pitallar 0, Yardan 0

Bumblebees (77): Estabillo 24, Ringor 19, Villas 15, Pring 6, Prion 5, De Guzman 4, Banua 2, Rubio 2, Grepo 0

Quarterscores: 18-13, 34-31, 59-54, 91-77