The Chang Thailand Slammers finally broke through the win
column even as the Saigon Heat and the Indonesia Warriors continued their
winning ways early in the 2013 season of the ASEAN Basketball League.
Thanks to the double-double efforts of Chris Charles and
Froilan Baguion, the Slammers finally notched a W at the expense of the
Slingers, who fell to 1-1. Charles scored 16 points and collared 16 rebounds on
top of 7 blocks to lead the Slammers, while Baguion added 15 markers and 13
assists in easily his best performance thus far. Chang Thailand led practically
the whole way, and they managed to stave off a fourth quarter run by the Slingers,
who were led by Kyle Jeffers’s 18 points, 10 boards, and 4 blocks.
One day after, the Indonesia Warriors repeated over the
Westports Malaysia Dragons, 79-72. Chris Daniels and Steven Thomas combined for
35 points, 25 rebounds, and 5 steals for the Indons, who now moved to a tie for
third place with a 2-2 slate. Jerick Cañada, Mario Wuysang, and John Smith all
scored at least 10 points to backstop their imports. After a strong 2-0 start,
the Dragons fell into a tie for third place with their tormentors. Gavin
Edwards shot 9-of-11 from the floor to finish with 20 points and 11 rebounds,
while Shee Fai Loh added 14 points in the losing cause.
Meanwhile, at the Tan Binh Stadium in Vietnam, the Heat
upset the heavily favored San Miguel Beermen, 92-89, thanks to a big fourth
quarter splurge. The awesome twosome of Dior Lowhorn and David Palmer paired up
for 53 points and 24 rebounds to spearhead the home squad’s charge, while Pinoy
import Jai Reyes lit up the board with 22 markers, 4 dimes, and 2 swipes. This win
propelled the Heat atop the standings at 3-1, while the Beermen absorbed their
first loss of the season after their opening week victory. SMB lost despite
having 6 players finish in double-figures, led by Gabe Freeman’s 16 points and
Brian Williams’s 14 markers. Williams also grabbed 16 rebounds in a herculean
effort for the visitors.
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| David Palmer drives past Brian Williams as the Heat torched the Beermen in Vietnam. |
Game Recaps:
CHANG THAILAND
SLAMMERS over SINGAPORE SLINGERS, 65-62
After earning a double-digit lead, the Chang Thailand
Slammers fought off a late JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers charge to secure
their first win of the season. Jun Cabatu was not able to send the game to
overtime and the Slammers survived the Slingers 65-62.
Chris Charles had his second straight double-double with 16
points and 16 rebounds, followed by Froilan Baguion with 15 points and 13
assists, while Michael Earl added 10 points for the Slammers.
Both the Slammers and the Slingers were shooting the ball
above 50% in the first quarter. A 7-0 run capped off by a basket from Baguion
at the end of the first quarter help the Slammers secure a 22-19 lead going
into the second quarter.
The Slammers' scrappy defense held the Slingers to only 3
points for five minutes before halftime. A field goal from Charles before
heading into the locker room gave the Slammers a 38-34 lead.
Pairach Sekteera made a three-point play off a nice pass
from Baguion to spark an 11-2 run in the third quarter. Back to back baskets
from Earl capped off the run to give Slammers their biggest lead in the game at
55-41. But Cabatu and Desmond Oh quickly scored five points to get the Slingers
within a single digit point difference going into the final quarter.
The Slingers defense was solid in the fourth quarter as they
held the Slammers to only four points for more than 7 minutes. Kyle Jeffers put
the Slingers back within striking distance with a three point play, shaving the
Slammers lead to 59-57 with 2:31 left.
Down by one with 1:26 left, the Slingers forced the Slammers
to commit a 24 second shot clock violation. After making a key stop, the
Slingers were unable to capitalize as they gave the ball away to the Slammers
due to a backcourt violation.
With under 30 seconds left, the Slingers were forced to foul
the Slammers. Baguion, a veteran point guard in the league, stepped up to the
free throw line and calmly made both shots. The Slingers had two chances to
send the game to overtime, unfortunately Cabatu's pair of three point tries did
not go down.
The Slingers were not able to shoot the ball well after the
first quarter as they finished with a 33% field goal average. Jeffers led the
Slingers with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Cabatu added 13 points. Rashad
Jones-Jennings also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds for
the Slingers who were playing without one of their local stars Wong Wei Long.
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| Kyles Jeffers tries a sky hook over the defense of Thailand's Chris Charles. |
SAIGON HEAT
over SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN, 92-89
A sold out Tan Binh Stadium rocked tonight as the Saigon
Heat escaped with an 92-89 win over the San Miguel Beermen.
Dior Lowhorn led the Heat with 27 points and 12 rebounds,
David Palmer added 26 points and 12 rebounds and Jai Reyes added 22 points for
the Heat who are now the number one team in the ABL with 3 wins and 1 loss.
Val Acuna and JR Cawaling provided the Beermen with scoring
off the bench in the first half. Acuna and Cawaling combined for 18 points
after making all of their 7 shots. Both teams exchanged baskets at the end of
the second quarter until a put back from Gabe Freeman and a dunk from Acuna
gave the Beermen a 46-39 lead. The Heat immediately answered with a three-point
play from Palmer which changed the score to 46-42 for the Beermen at halftime.
The momentum started to go the Beermen's way in the third
quarter. Asi Taulava made two impressive plays to spark a Beermen run. Taulava
had a dunk, then blocked Lowhorn on the next possesion and Chris Banchero
capped the run with a three-point play to give the Beermen a 62-52 lead.
Palmer made a sky-hook to give the Heat a 71-70 lead in the
fourth quarter but the 6'10'' center had to go to the bench with 7:33 left
after picking up his fourth foul. Then Lowhorn and Reyes stepped up with back
to back threes which gave the Heat an 82-76 lead.
The Heat had trouble securing rebounds late in the game.
Brian Williams took full advantage of it by scoring on a put back and Freeman
helped the Beermen to pull within one point after making a tough lay-up.
Palmer then hit a pair a free throws which gave the Heat an
88-84 lead with 1:36 left. Then Banchero had a chance to get the Beermen within
two on the next possesion but he missed a lay-up. On the other end, Lowhorn,
who grabbed 8 offensive rebounds, stretched the Heat's lead to 90-84 on a put
back with one minute left.
Down by 6, the Beermen kept fighting to close the gap.
Freeman made a contested lay-up and Leo Avenido hit a timely three-point shot
which shaved the Heat's lead to 90-89 with 24.6 seconds left.
Palmer was fouled out after he committed a foul to stop a
Beermen break off a Heat turnover. However Freeman was unable to bring the
Beermen on top after missing a running hook shot with 6 seconds left in the
game.
Reyes was clutch for the Heat by making two crucial free
throws to put the Heat up 92-89. Freeman had a chance to redeem himself but his
running three-point shot at the buzzer was a little bit too long.
Freeman finished the game with 16 points, followed by
Williams who recorded a double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Eric Menk
and Acuna added 12 points each for the Beermen who will host the Heat at Ynares
Sports Arena next Friday, February 1st in the next ABL Friday Basketball game.
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| Gabe Freeman and the Beermen were not able to repel the upset-conscious Saigon Heat. |
INDONESIA
WARRIORS over WESTPORTS MALAYSIA DRAGONS, 79-72
It felt like deja vu all over again for the Westports
Malaysia Dragons this afternoon at MABA Stadium. They grabbed themselves a
double-digit lead against the Indonesia Warriors in the first half only to let
their lead slip away as the Warriors fought back in the second half to grab a
79-72 win in front of a stunned Dragons home crowd.
Chris Daniels had a breakout game with 23 points and 13
rebounds followed by Steven Thomas who had 12 point and 12 rebounds for the
Warriors, who are now on a two-game winning streak. Jerick Canada and Mario
Wuysang also earned double digits as they scored 11 points apiece in this win.
The Dragons had their first double-digit lead early in the
second quarter after Gavin Edwards's two handed jam and a basket from Loh Shee
Fai gave the Dragons a 28-17 lead with 8:07 left on the clock.
Then Dragons then had a 6-0 run sparked by Edwards who
tipped in his own miss, followed by a pair of free throws from Ooi Ban Sin and
a lay-up from Shee Fai to give the Dragons their biggest lead in the game at
45-29 with 1:19 left before halftime. The Warriors did not want to go down in
the double digits before the break however and responded quickly with a 7-0 run
capped off by a lay-up from Richard Smith to cut their deficit to 45-36 heading
into the locker rooms.
The Warriors came out looking like a different team as John
Smith made back to back jumpers and Daniels made a lay-up after stealing the
ball from Cedric Bozeman to give the Warriors a 54-51 lead with 5 minutes left
in the 3rd quarter. The Warriors outscored the Dragons 30-13 in the third
quarter.
Daniels was very active getting deflections and rebounds
which helped the Warriors gain 20 offensive rebounds and forced the Dragons to
have 16 turnovers which led to 19 Warriors points. However Daniels had to leave
the game with 2:18 left after fouling out.
With Daniels out and the game tied at 72, Steven Thomas came
up huge with a block shot on Bozeman and a hook shot over Edwards to give the
Warriors a 74-72 lead with 1:20 left. Then Mario Wuysang made four free throws
which secured the Warriors' win.
Edwards had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Dragons, who
were unable to make a field goal in the last three minutes. Shee Fai had his
best game of the season with 14 points and Bozeman finished with 13 points for
the Dragons.
Warriors' head coach Todd Purves credits team effort for
this win. "We pride ourselves on mental toughness and defense. We couldn’t
make any shots in the first half but our defense stayed consistent. It was a
great team effort and the overall team deserves a credit," said Purves in
the post-game interview.
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| Jerick Cañada tries to evade Ban Sin Ooi by using a Steven Thomas screen. |
Source: Game recaps were
compressed and compiled from AseanBasketballLeague.com.
Images: All images are
from AseanBasketballLeague.com.
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