Alpha survives late-game OGs rally

Team Alpha survived a fourth quarter rally by OGs, 69-67 in the final game of the APCRAA Alumni Basketball Tournament (AABT) 2016 season men’s division elimination round on Saturday, September 24 at the APC Gymnasium.

With both teams advancing in the semifinals, Alpha secured the third spot while OGs finished with a 1-4 record along with Team Warriors and Cav Guards. Due to a superior quotient against the three teams, the OGs are placed at the fourth spot and will qualify in the semifinals.

Jhonel de Luna of Team Alpha had another double-double game with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Alex Tagle led the team in scoring with 22 points with 9 rebounds. For Team OG’s Armand Batuhan led the scoring chores with 23 points, with 6 rebounds. Mhar Paraiso and JP Redelick tallied 12 points each.

Both teams had their own taste of the lead in the first three quarters, reaching as high as 11 points for team OGs and 8 points for Alpha. The game became tightly contested in the final quarter and the game was tied up at 67-all with only 19 seconds remaining in the game.

As the OGs had the posession in the final seconds, they milked the clock for them to have the last basket of the game. Unfortunately, the ball was stolen by Kenneth Lim as Batuhan is driving to the basket and made a fastbreak layup with only 2 seconds remaining. Batuhan tried to redeem himself with a desperation three point attempt but the shot missed as the buzzer sounded.

The semifinals will begin on October 1. Team Alpha will face the ASPAC Boys at 6:30 pm followed by OGs vs Bumblebees at 8pm. Both Bumblebees and ASPAC Boys will have a twice-to-beat advantage against their opponents.

Boxscores (click here for full stats):
Alpha (69): Tagle 22, De Luna 17, Castanares 13, Dosado 10, Lardizabal 3, Lim 2, Dionisio 2, Estorque 0, Montojo J 0, Perez 0
OGs (67): Batuhan 23, Paraiso 12, Redelick 12, Beltran 9, Prayco 4, Go 3, Aotay 2, Pitallar 2, Viray 0, Rivera 0
Quarterscores: 16-10, 27-34, 50-48, 69-67