Auris Plaza Hotel forged a come-from-behind 62-48 win over The H Hotel to register their third straight win in Synergy Sports’ Inter-Hotel Basketball Tournament at the Jumeira Baccalaureate School.
Auris Plaza trailed The H Hotel in the first three quarters (14-10; 25-20; 39-34) but the trio of Gregory Odera, Kennedy Samudio, and Hernando Fernando led a rally at the start of the fourth quarter to set the stage for a strong finish and a 14-point winning margin.
Odera had an impressive double-double performance, scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while Samudio and Fernando finished with 12 and 10 markers respectively.
JR Sunga and Jhon Sicat also contributed to Auris’ victory with nine and eight points in that order.
“The H Hotel were the dominant side in the first three quarters and we were just trying to hang on,” Auris Plaza Hotel coach Sherwyn Serafica told Sport360. “But in the fourth quarter, we went full throttle and tightened our defence. We caught them off-guard and we scored big in transition.
“It was a total team effort – everybody played well and we’re very happy for winning three matches in a row after dropping our first two assignments,” added Serafica.
Meanwhile, Emaar Hospitality Group cruised to their fourth straight win with a 55-44 domination of Sofitel The Palm, Dubai.
Emaar established an eight-point lead, 16-8, at the end of the first quarter and strongly held their advantage throughout the match.
Nicolas Claudio and Gracer Torres were the top scorers for Emaar with 20 and 13 points respectively while Regie Diolazo carried mostly the scoring cudgels for Sofitel with 26 markers.
In another match, Conrad Dubai sizzled from downtown and trounced Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate 80-60.
Victor Chalfoun, JC Morales and Philipp Villanueva made three triples each to lead their team to a lop-sided win.
SCORES IN BRIEF
Auris Plaza Hotel 62 – Gregory Odera 22; Kennedy Samudio 12; Hernando Fernando 10; JR Sunga 9; Jhon Sicat 8; Gerald Gaya 1
The H Hotel 48 – San Jose 18; Cedric Calusin 12; Roel Bernardo 8; Marvis Elvena 7; Adiran Sogolio 3
Emaar Hospitality Group 55 – Nicolas Claudio 20; Gracer Torres 13; Erwin Santos 8; Philip Batinga 4; Darwin Tadena 4; Froilan Panganiban 3; Glenn Horca 3
Sofitel The Palm, Dubai 44 – Regie Diolazo 26; Michael Zhang 6; Richard Badia 6; Mon Milllan Dizon 3; Marlon Bitoon 2; Carl Ladera 1
