Team 2K15 is one step away from grabbing the APCRAA Basketball Tournament crown as they defeated Team Knights, 100-89 in Game 1 in their best-of-three championship series on Saturday, October 6 at the Asia Pacific College Gymansium.
Team 2K15 last won the trophy in the 2015 First and Second Conferences, making them the only back-to-back champions in ABT history so far.
Reigning most valuable player Abe Tanco finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. Pepe Canseco had his best game of the season so far, with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Alex Tagle carried the scoring chores for Knights, with 28 points and 5 rebounds. Mark Rivera had a double-double game with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Before the game started, traditional player introductions for both teams were done.
Team Knights came out strong from the opening tip, leading by as much as 8 points in the first period. However, 2K15 started its own run in the second quarter and pulled ahead by two points at halftime, 39-37.
2K15 maintained their momentum at the fourth quarter thanks to the timely threes of Archie Gratil and Guess dela Cuesta. This pushed the gap versus Knights to 16 points. 2K15 held on to the lead up to the final buzzer.
Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series will be on October 13, 5:00pm at the APC Gymnasium.
THE SCORES: (FIBA LiveStats)
2K15 (100): Tanco 24, Canseco 21, Dela Cuesta 19, Gratil 18, Villegas 9, Amparo 6, Nartia 3, Ang 0, Jabile 0, Abalon 0, Samonte 0
KNIGHTS (89): Tagle 28, Rivera 21, De Luna 18, Hermo JC 17, Ysulan 2, Tragico 2, Hermo JL 1, Cerrado 0, Flores 0, Dizon 0
BOXSCORES: 19-21, 39-37, 68-62, 100-89