The Bumblebees stopped a fourth-quarter comeback by Burn-out to earn their second win, 108-96, in the elimination round of the APCRAA Alumni Basketball Tournament (AABT) 2nd Conference on Saturday, September 26, at the APC Gymnasium.
Three of the Bumblebees had their career best games yet, led by Norman Ringor with 34 points and 21 rebounds. Joemark Belardo scored 26 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists, while team captain Brix Estabillo recorded the first triple-double of the tournament, tallying 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
On the opposite side, all of the Burn-out players scored double-digit points. EJ Sulit led his team with 29 points, 21 of which came from the three-point area, while team captain Winston Alcantara had a double-double performance of 19 points and 18 rebounds.
Team Burn-out, playing their first game in the tournament, only had 5 players against the Bumblebees. This didn’t stop them from giving a good fight.
While the Bumblebees led for most of the game, netting as high as an 18-point lead in the third quarter, Burn-out fought back in the final quarter and decreased the gap to only two points with 8:03 remaining, courtesy of the shooting spree by EJ Sulit and JP Carbonilla at the rainbow arc.
Fatigue caught on at the Burn-out camp, allowing the Bumblebees to cross the 100-point mark with 3 minutes remaining and increase their lead to double digits.
The Bumblebees will face First Conference champions Warriors on October 17 while Burn-out will also go up against the Warriors on October 10.
Bumblebees (108): Ringor 34, Belardo 26, Prion 15, Estabillo 12, Pring 7, Rubio 4, Banua 4, Grepo 2, Estoesta Jk 2, Ibasco 2
Burn-out (96): Sulit 29, Carbonilla 24, Alcantara 19, Tulio 13, Abancio 11
Quarterscores: 24-19, 45-39, 79-71, 108-96
Complete boxscores are available in this link.