AACI Transport contained Huminova Tigers, 84-69, while AACI Farms held off Chemisolutions, 85-77, in the semifinals to arrange a titular showdown starting today in the 3rd Filsino All Asian Countertrade 2nd Conference Inter-Color Tournament at Bacolod Tay Tung High School Po Hang Gym.
Championship game starts 7:30 p.m. with AACI Transport carrying a twice-to-beat advantage.
Both teams defeated their opponents in similar fashion as they scored 27 points in the third quarter to establish a double digit advantage in the game.
Huminova Tigers took the half 32-30 as Joshua Chua drilled three triples and RB Chua adding seven points, while Transport got contributions from Julius Teruel and Mark Binguan.
But the Tigers' offense sputtered in the third canto as they can only score 11 points against Transport's 27 markers. Teruel, Jolly Castillo and Rey Pandoro collective effort resulted to 18 points to give Transport a 57-43 lead.
Even as Joshua Chua continued to remain hot from the triple area as he added three more treys and RB Chua's drives netted him eight points, it was not enough to contain the balanced offensive by Transport led by Teruel, Pandoro and Daniel Chiu.
Teruel finished with 27 points, while Pandoro added 18, Binguan with 14, Chiu 8, and Castillo 7 points.
Joshua Chua tallied 21 points, including seven triples, for the Tigers, while RB Chua had 17, Jan Jan Lopue 8, and Richard Co added 6 points.
Meanwhile, from a slim 38-37 halftime lead, AACI Farms outscored Chemisolutions 27-14 in the third quarter with Ryan Frias scoring 10 points, and Arvin Gustilo and Daniel Tan combining for 11 points for a 65-51 advantage.
Tasked with rallying Chemisolutions' comeback, Robbie Jalando-on fired 15 points in the fourth quarter but Farms leaned on the combined efforts of Tim Garrucho, Johann Villanueva and Gustilo for 20 points to seal the finals' slot.
Gustilo paced Farms with 17 points while Frias and Garrucho hit for 11 points each.
Jalando-on exploded for 30 points while John Montemayor chipped in 11 markers. (Stephen Tan)