FIGHTER 50 Wine and Journey to Recovery set up a finals showdown in the Mayor Edgar Labella Christmas Inter-Commercial Basketball League after they overwhelmed their respective foes in the semifinals at the Cebu City Sports Institute on Saturday, December 21, 2019.
F50 clobbered ASPA Frameworks, 85-65, while JTR humbled the SG ARQ Builders, 119-89.
F50 and JTR will figure in a winner-take-all final game on Sunday, December 22, 2019. Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m. following the battle for third place honors between ASPA and SG at 5 p.m.
The champion team of this pocket tournament will go home with P100,000.
The veteran-laden F50 squad grabbed the upper hand from the get-go and led, 30-18, after the first canto. ASPA tried to make a game out of it but F50 simply had too much firepower and put down every uprising to walk away with the win.
Bennick Sealana led F50 with 16 points, Marvin Hayes added 11 markers and six boards in just 15 minutes of action, while Far Eastern University standout Royce Alforque added 10 points, six boards and four assists.
Meanwhile, JTR dominated the second half to put down the Builders. Up by just eight at halftime, 60-52, JTR started to pull away in the third which ended with them ahead by 16, 87-71. They then blew the dam wide open in the fourth canto with a 32-18 scoring binge that took the fight out of the Builders.
Five different players scored in double-figures for JTR led by prolific guard Steve Castro who had 33 points on a super-efficient 13-of-17 shooting clip. He also made six three-pointers to help send JTR to the championship round.
Cesafi Mythical Five guard Darrell Shane Menina almost had a double-double of 17 points and nine assists while Bataan Risers’ big man Bernie Bregondo had 14 points and six boards. Gileant Delator and Ian Ortega added 13 and 11 markers, respectively.