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| Michael Earl led the Cobras to an upset of the erstwhile undefeated Malaysia Dragons. |
*All images are from AseanBasketballLeague.com
BANGKOK COBRAS over WESTPORTS MALAYSIA DRAGONS, 73-70
The Dragons took the lead first with a 7-point gap, but a sloppy play by the Dragons resulted in a slam dunk by Michael Earl that gave the Cobras their first lead a little over two minutes remaining in the first half. This seemed to spark the Cobras confidence and, in retrospect, it was symbolic of how the game played out.
The second quarter saw the Dragons putting in a better performance with sharpshooter Satyaseelan Kuppusamy starting things off with his three-point shooting. He helped the Dragons keep in-step with the Cobras when the break came up.
A good halftime talk by Coach Vanguardia saw the Dragons fired up in the third quarter. A defensive rebound by Brian Williams off of Gentry Lewis missed shot was just what the Dragons needed as they took the lead for the first time in the second half care of Shee Fai Loh’s basket. The Dragons played good D, keeping the Cobras at bay and they finished the period up, 43-42.
Things seemed to be going well for the Dragons in the fourth quarter, until a Michael Earl dunk sparked the Cobras to fight back. The Dragons were now in trouble, hanging on to a one-point lead with just under three minutes left on the clock. Their frustration showed as a foul by Patrick Cabahug on Chanachon Klahan finally resulted in the Cobras regaining the lead for the first time in the half with only one and a half to go. This was the final push that they needed, and the Cobras finished well to get their second win in four games.
BGK 73 – Earl 20, Cruz 14, Kruatiwa 13, Klahan 10, Lewis 9, Wanna 3, Chaiwat 2, Kongkum 2, Apiromvilaichai 0, Limsuwan 0
WMD 70 – Wade 22, Williams 17, Belasco 9, Cabahug 6, Loh 5, Kuppusamy 4, Batumalai 3, Pacana 3, Chee 1, Kwaan 0
QS: 16-11, 36-30, 49-54, 73-70
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| Gentry Lewis takes the low block against Malaysia's Li Wei Chee. |
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| Nic Belasco gets into a tight spot against Lewis's D. |
SINGAPORE SLINGERS over SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN, 71-63
The Slingers wore their inaugural pink jerseys in honor of Cancer Awareness Day. Pink didn’t help the Slingers win, their grit and toughness did.
A lack of intensity appeared to be one of the Beermen’s main problems in the first half. They only managed to score 25 points in the first 20 minutes compared to the 39 points scored by the Slingers. In the 3rd quarter, the Beermen raised their intensity and started to put some pressure on the Slingers’ guards, which cause them to turn the ball over several times.
SMB’s Froilan Baguion, Dalron Johnson and Junmar Fajardo all combined to tie the match at 59 with 5 minutes left. The Slingers, however, were able to keep their composure in front of their home crowd. Slingers’ guard Wong Wei Long hit a big three point shot with 53 seconds left to increase their lead to 7 and help extend their winning streak to 4 games.
The Slingers played well on defense to contain the Beermen’s imports. Slingers’ Louis Graham had a tough night shooting the ball, but played great defense to limit SMB’s Doug Thomas to just 10 points.
SGS 71 – Dulay 23, Graham 16, Wong 11, Little 10, Oh 5, Canta 5, Matialakan 1, Lim 0, Khoo 0
SMB 63 – Johnson 19, Baguion 15, Thompson 10, Fajardo 6, Avenido 4, Rizada 4, Fernandez 3, De la Pena 2, Luanzon 0, Mangahas 0, Cabatu 0, Gonzales 0
QS: 24-14, 39-25, 54-48, 71-63
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| SMB import Doug Thompson attempts a reverse against the pink Slingers. |
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| Donald Little tries to drive left against Thompson. |
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| Pinoy import Don Dulay led the way for the streaking Slingers. |
CHANG THAILAND SLAMMER over INDONESIA WARRIORS, 82-70
This was an important game for both teams, who have not been doing well recently. The Warriors have lost their last two games and the Slammers have lost their last three, landing them both in the bottom half of the table.
Both teams came out strong, trading baskets as the first frame ended with the Slammers up, 23-18. The second quarter was just as tight as the score was deadlocked five times before the break, which had the Thais still ahead, 40-37.
Deandre Thomas, though, stepped up both offensively and defensively in the second half, using his size and strength to keep the Warriors at bay. The Slammers sank 24 points in the third period and kept the Warriors down to just 16, giving them their biggest lead in the game so far, 64-53.
The Warriors tried their best to get back in the game in the fourth, but with time running out fast and problems on both ends of the floor, even back-to-back threes in the waning moments from star guard Mario Wuysang were not enough to get their groove back.
Both teams’ scoring percentages were fairly even, but the Slammers outrebounded them 46 to 29. The Slammers’ Chester Tolomia finished the game as the top scorer with 24 points, while teammates Deandre Thomas and Kenneth Walker each had a double-double.
CTS 82 – Tolomia 24, Thomas 20, Walker 12, Lertmalaiporn 8, Jantuma 6, Apiromvilaichai 4, Pinitpatcharalert 3, Williams 3, Bautista 2, Ghogar 0
INW 70 – Smith 18, Thomas 16, Wuysang 12, Canada 11, Ricafuente 9, Gunawan 4, Wibawa 0, Sta. Cruz 0, Prihantono 0
QS: 23-18, 40-37, 64-53, 82-70
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| Mario Wuysang hit some big shots in the endgame, but they were too little too late. |
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| Attaporn Lertmalaiporn's Slammers checked their slide with this win in Indonesia. |
AIR ASIA PHILIPPINE PATRIORS over SAIGON HEAT, 76-62
It was a very busy night for the 2012 ASEAN Basketball League as all eight teams hit the court on the same day. In the first game of the night the AirAsia Philippine Patriots hosted the Saigon Heat at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, Philippines.
The Heat came into the game still searching for their first win but the the Patriots made it clear early in the game that they were not going to be pushovers as Anthony Johnson and Jonathan Fernandez led the team, contributing a combined 16 out of their team’s first quarter.
Saigon, however, refused to go down without a fight, and the second quarter saw the team pulling themselves together both offensively and defensively. They not only outrebounded the Patriots 28 to 11 at this point, they also managed to increase their field goal percentage, scoring 21 points this quarter and keeping the Patriots down to just 14.
Both teams continued to fight hard in the final half with the Patriots starting strong until back to back baskets from Julius Hodge and Minh Trieu cut the Patriots’ lead back to just 7 points with just under five minutes left on the clock. Despite their best efforts, though, the Patriots were simply too much for the Heat, and the scoreboard read 76-62 for the Pinoys.
Saigon’s Julius Hodge continued his amazing run to finish the game as the top scorer with a double-double line of 26 points and 10 rebounds. His teammate, Jonathan Jones, also completed the game with a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds. The Patriots’ top scorer was Anthony Johnson with 23 points, followed by Nakiea Miller’s 20 markers.
APP 76—Johnson 23, Miller 20, Fernandez 12, Vergara 10, Rodriguez 5, Larong 4, Arellano 2, Laure 2, Ybanez 0, Wainwright 0, Saldua 0, Raymundo 0.
SGH 62—Hodge 26, Jones 21, Smith 6, Minh 6, Sophoeun 3, Duong 0, Capati 0, Tung 0, Son 0, Tung 0.
QS: 21-9, 35-30, 57-45, 76-62.
*Game Recaps compiled and compressed from AseanBasketballLeague.com
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