Bethany Gelle Trucking and Pueblo Rosario Athletic Club will dispute the title in the 1st Danilo Puzon Cup Memorial Basketball Tournament, 8 p.m. tomorrow at Lopue’s South Square gym.

The face-off was inevitable after both squads demolished their respective rivals in the semifinals last week.

Bethany Truckers overpowered Alvin Auto Parts, 72-65, while the Eroreco-based PRAC Waves got away with a 60-58 victory against hard-fighting Axial Engineering.

The big trio of Bethany – Bandoy Aliermo, Johnson Ciocon and Elbert Habaradas – combined for 42 points while Juliue Prietos added 13 to quash any hope for the Partsmen, who missed the services of Rex Bayer. to barge into the finals.

Biboy Java tried to turn things around for his team, scoring 27 points for Alvin Auto Parts, but the Truckers remain undaunted as they took control of the game, posting a 28-16 lead in the second quarter and ending the half at 53-48.

In the PRAC-Axial match-up, the Waves trailed 31-34 in the first two quarters but caught up with the Engineers in the last round for the two-point victory.

Amit Teruel delivered three consecutive rainbow markers after tip-off in the final half to set the winning tone for the Waves and demoralized Bing Soyao’s Axial.

Teruel led the Waves’ scorers with 16 points while Spitfire Espina chipped in 12 and Reggie Sy, 10 points.

The Engineers reported to the semifinals game with a depleted lineup after Edgar Espares, Mailo Jurisprudencia, and bruise brothers Rene and Winnie Antones missing-in-action for personal reasons.

Still, Vicente “Toto” Plagata Jr. tried to carry the scoring cudgels for Axial, converting 21 points while Edmundo Lumawag added 11 and Romelo Herrera contributed 10 points to threaten PRAC.

The Engineers had their chance to tie the ballgame with 20 seconds left in the game clock but Nonoy Cordova’s side jumper failed to hit the mark.

Axial and Alvin will play for third place tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. followed by the titular game between Bethany and PRAC.*NAB

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