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| Dalron Johnson and the Beermen continue their rise in the 3rd AirAsia ABL. |
SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN over SINGAPORE SLINGERS, 75-65
Collective team effort from the San Miguel Beermen helped them beat the struggling JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, Philippines.
Dalron Johnson led the Beermen with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Jarrid Famous finished with 17 points and Ryan Joseph Rizada added 11 points off the bench.
The Beermen had a fast start, leading 21-9 at the end of first quarter, but the Slingers charged back in the second quarter behind Louis Graham who made 10 points. The Beermen then made a 9-0 run late in the third quarter. A shot by Benedict Fernandez stretched the Beermen’s lead 50-36 with 02:38 left in the period. Leo Avenido then scored five straight points to give the Beermen their biggest lead in the game 62-46 with 05:56 left in the game. Then Famous made 3 dunks in the last five minutes and the Beermen subsequently claimed their ninth win of the season.
Louis Graham led all scoring with 25 points and 10 rebounds while Donald Little had 18 points, but both of them also combined for 13 of Slingers’ 21 turnovers. These two did not get a lot of help in scoring especially in the first half. Wong Wei Long was the only other player in the squad who reached double-digits with 13 points. Don Dulay, who had a career night against the Beermen last month, finished with only 3 points.
SMB 75 – Johnson 19, Famous 17, Rizada 11, Avenido 9, Fajardo 8, Baguion 4, Fernandez 3, Yap 2, Ferriols 2
SGS 65 – Graham 25, Little 18, Wong 13, Canta 4, Dulay 3, Oh 2
QS: 21-9, 31-28, 52-41, 75-64
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| Donald Little slams one home in a losing effort for the Slingers. |
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| Former PBA player Roger Yap seems to have found a home with the Beermen. |
BANGKOK COBRAS over WESTPORTS MALAYSIA DRAGONS, 85-81
The Bangkok Cobras put up a convincing performance in the final quarter to hand the Westports Malaysia Dragons their second consecutive loss on the road at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.
Five of the Cobras scored in double-digits led by Jai Reyes with 20 points. Gentry Lewis recorded a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds while Marvin Cruz had 15 points, George Travis had 12 and Ratdech Kruatiwa contributed 10.
AirAsia ABL’s leading scorer Tiras Wade put in a massive 30 points for his team, while teammate Brian Williams added another double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Teammate John Ng added his season-high of 12 points.
The Cobras started the game on an 8-0 run, hoping to quickly put some distance between them and the Dragons. The visitors were having none of that however and they finally took the lead near the mid-way point of the second quarter following free throws by Tiras Wade. The Dragons went into the halftime break up, 47-39.
The Cobras staged their comeback in the third quarter, slowly cutting into the Dragons’ lead. The Dragons appeared to be struggling and were outscored, 11-23. It was a hard fought fourth quarter, but John Ng brought the Dragons the lead once again with 7:34 left. Marvin Cruz, though, converted both free throws just three minutes later to bring the Cobras back on top. It was down to the wire as the Cobras held a 3-point lead with a minute left. Unable to convert a couple of last minute chances in the final minute, the Dragons have now lost their last two games on the road.
BKC 85 – Reyes 20, Lewis 16, Cruz 15, Travis 12, Kruatiwa 10, Wanna 7, Chaiwat 3, Salanyu 2
WMD 81 – Wade 30, Williams 17, Ng 12, Pacana 8, Cabahug 5, Kuppusamy 4, Batumalai 2, Loh 2, Belasco 1
QS: 19-17, 39-47, 62-58, 81-81
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| Tiras Wade has been the only consistent bright spot for the Malaysia Dragons this season. |
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| Gentry Lewis tries to block the path of Nic Belasco as the Cobras defang the Dragons. |
AIRASIA PHILIPPINE PATRIOTS over SAIGON HEAT, 73-57
A 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter lifted the AirAsia Philippine Patriots over the streaking Saigon Heat. The Patriots beat the Heat for their ninth win of the season.
Playing without their leading scorer, Anthony Johnson, the Patriots’ local players stepped up in this game. Francis “Kiko” Adriano led the Patriots in scoring with 15 points and Aldrech Ramos had 11.
Midway through the second quarter, It looked like the Heat could repeat their performance from last weekend in their win over the Dragons. Jonathan Jones made it 30-25 for the Heat with 4:18 left before halftime, but Rob Wainwright answered by hitting a jumper and Warren Ybanez made a three-point shot to start a 9-0 run. The Patriots took a 34-30 lead going into halftime.
Before going to the final quarter, the Heat were only down, 45-47, after Jonathan Jones hit a shot with 01:09 left and this was the closest the Heat got to Patriots for the rest of the game.
The Patriots started the final frame locking up on defense. They held the Heat scoreless in the first 5 minutes 34 seconds as they made a 10-0 run to stop the Heat’s winning-streak at three games.
Jonathan Jones led all scoring with 28 points and 13 rebounds, while Jahmar Thorpe added 15 points and 15 rebounds. Thorpe also had 8 of the Heat’s 19 turnovers in the game. Noy Javier, who was on fire in the last game, couldn’t carry his good performance over to this game. Javier missed 7 of his 9 three-point attempts. Other than Jones and Thorpe, the rest of the Heat players only combined for 14 points.
APP 73 – Adriano 15, Ramos 11, Miller 10, Fernandez 9, Vergara 8, Ybanez 7, Wainwright 7, Saldua 2, Laure 2, Raymundo 2
SGH 57 – Jones 28, Thorpe 15, Smith 6, Javier 6, Sanz 2
QS: 19-15, 34-30, 50-45, 73-57
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| Warren Ybañez tries to hamper the progress of Saigon's Fil-Am import John Smith. |
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| Nakeia Miller added a nice double-double to make up for the absence of Anthony Johnson. |
INDONESIA WARRIORS over CHANG THAILAND SLAMMERS, 89-72
It was a game neither team could afford to lose if they were to grab a spot in the playoffs. Both teams fought hard in the first half of the game, but a massive third quarter by the Warriors saw them grab their first win in the last six games.
The Chang Thailand Slammers’ Demetrius Proby led all scoring with a massive 32 points, but only teammate Calvin Williams came close with 17 points as the rest of the Slammers squad combined for just 23.
Despite a slow start, the Indonesia Warriors pulled through after a huge third quarter to grab their first win in 6 games. Five of the Warriors players scored double figures. Allan Salangsang led the way with 24 points followed by Jon Smith, Rony Gunawan and Steve Thomas with 13 points each and Jerrick Canada with 11.
It was a tale of two halves, as the first saw both teams chasing the lead and matching each other almost perfectly point for point. The Warriors were not shy with their shots in the first quarter, recording 22 attempts, but only managing to convert 18%. The Slammers, on the other hand, had a better field goal percentage at over 30%, but only managed 14 shots from the field and 5 from the arc. Both teams were still neck and neck in the second quarter, matching each other almost shot for shot. There were seven lead changes throughout this quarter and the point difference never got past 3 points.
The third quarter was all about the Warriors, however, who came back after the break with an 11-0 run in just three minutes and subsequently the first big lead of the game at 37-50. The Warriors were getting their shooting groove back in this quarter, scoring 34 big points while limiting the Slammers to just 18.
Salangsang continued his impressive run in this quarter to give the Warriors a very comfortable 17-point lead going into the final quarter.
The Warriors drove the dagger home in the final quarter, as Rony Gunawan and Mario Wuysang came in with back-to-back three pointers. The Slammers were never able to recover from the Warriors’ monster third quarter.
INW 89 – Salangsan 24, Smith 13, Gunawan 13, Thomas 13, Canada 11, Prihantono 8, Wuysang 7
CTS 72 – Proby 32, Williams 17, Lertmalaiporn 8, Alcaraz 6, Apiromvilaichai 5, Bautista 3, Aguilar 1
QS: 15-15, 36-35, 70-53, 89-72
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| Steve Thomas and the Warriors stayed alive for a playoff slot after beating the Slammers. |
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| Demetrius Proby and the defending champion Slammers are in trouble after losing to the Warriors. |
*Game Recaps compiled and compressed from AseanBasketballLeague.com
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