Team Warriors won their first game in the APCRAA Alumni Basketball Tournament (AABT) 2016 season Men’s Division elimination round in a come-from-behind victory against Cav Guards, 71-69 on Saturday at the APC Gymnasium.
The two-time conference champion’s victory, however, was bittersweet as they did not accumulate the needed winning margin for them to advance to the playoffs. The Cav Guards were also eliminated as a result of the Warriors’ win.
Edwin Gratil became the top player for the Warriors, finishing with a double-double (17 points and 14 rebounds). Lacer Evangelista scored 13 points, and contributed 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
Christian Tragico led the Cav Guards in scoring, with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Ronnie Corsino had another double-double performance of 18 points and 17 rebounds.
The Cav Guards were leading for the first three quarters of the game and reached to as much as 12 points in the third quarter. The Warriors began their rally in the fourth quarter and grabbed the lead at the 3:50 mark of the game thanks to Christian Amparo’s scoring run.
Since the Warriors were aware of the needed winning margin for them to qualify in the semifinals, they continued their scoring run, led by Amparo and Evangelista reaching to 6 points with 43 seconds in the game, 70-64.
After a missed three-point attempt from Ian Torres, the loose ball went out of bounds and possession was given to the Warriors. An inbound violation was called against Archie Gratil and it was questioned by the Warriors’ bench.
An intentional foul was committed by Gratil to Ronnie Corsino for the Warriors to regain the possession. Corsino made his first free throw and intentionally missed his second, grabbed the rebound and scored a layup to reduce the lead to two points before the buzzer sounded.
Boxscores (click here for full stats):
Warriors (71): Gratil E 17, Evangelista 13, Amparo 11, Gratil A 10, Villegas 8, Nartia 6, Favila 3, Battung 3 Abalon 0, Jabile 0
Cav Guards (69): Tragico 20, Corsino 18, Quilang 10, Torres 7, Hermo 6, Cayaban 5, Sandigan 2, Barecena 1, Narciso 0, Cuntapay 0
Quarterscores: 13-19, 28-34, 47-52, 71-69