The San Miguel Beermen permanently supplanted the Indonesia
Warriors at first place in the standings after SMB beat the Slingers anew and
the Warriors fell to the Westports Malaysia Dragons. The Warriors, however,
remained within striking distance of the top spot as they also got a win this
week over the Sports Rev Thailand Slammers.
It was Mario Wuysang who had the hot hand against the Thais.
The perennial starting playmaker for the Indon nationals hit 5-of-6 from beyond
the arc on his way to 23 points for the Warriors. Chris Daniels, Dodo Sitepu,
John Smith, and Steven Thomas all scored in double-figures for Indonesia, while
Froilan Baguion led the Thais with 17 markers.
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| Kannawat Lertlaaoukul tries to get around the defense of Mario Wuysang. |
A couple of days later, the Warriors tasted only their
fourth loss of the season, this time at the hands of the Dragons. Fil-American
Justin Melton spearheaded Malaysia’s cause with 17 points on the strength of 4
treys, while Moala Tautuaa registered 16 markers. Mario Wuysang hit 6 triples and
finished with 20 points to lead Indonesia.
In the week’s final game, the Beermen throttled the
Slingers, 80-69, thanks to 19 points from Chris Banchero. Asi Taulava was a
tower of power down low with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Hans Thiele
scored 11. ASEAN import Phillip Morrison led Singapore with 28 points on
9-of-19 FG shooting.
Game Recaps:
INDONESIA
WARRIORS over SPORTS REV THAILAND SLAMMERS, 83-74
Mario Wuysang had the hot hand for the Indonesia Warriors
tonight as he scored 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting to power the Warriors over the Sports Rev
Thailand Slammers 83-74 at Nimibutr Stadium, Thailand.
In the win, both Steven Thomas and Chris Daniels recorded
double doubles. Thomas finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds while Daniels
had 11 points and 10 rebounds. John Smith contributed 11 points and Ronaldo
Sitepu chipped in 10 points to help the Warriors grab their fifth consecutive
victory.
Slammers had to play without their star Chris Charles who
has to serve a one-game suspension. Early on, the Warriors dominated the boards
and went up 8-0 on back to back baskets from Wuysang. The Warriors had 6 offensive
rebounds in the first quarter. Thomas scored on an offensive rebound and Amin
Prihantono sank a three-point to gave the Warriors a 23-10 lead with 2:56 left
in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Warriors built their lead to
37-17 on back to back three pointers from Wuysang. Down big midway in the
second quarter, the Slammers came alive. A free throw from Wutipong Dasom
followed by a Darrius Brannon score, after cleaning up his own miss, started an
11-0 run for the Slammers. The run was capped off with a lay-up by Sukhdavb
Ghogar off a nice inbound pass from Froilan Baguion, cutting the Slammers’
deficit 37-28 with 4 minutes left before halftime. The Slammers were able to
get within 4 points before halftime after Baguion successfully made 3 free
throws.
However, the Warriors responded in the third quarter by
dominating the boards once again and locking up on defense. They limited the
Slammers to only 8 points in the third quarter. Sitepu made a lay-up and
Prihantono scored on a putback, giving the Warriors a 64-45 lead with 2:25 left
in the third quarter.
The Slammers showed a lot of heart in the fourth quarter as
they tried to rally from their big deficit. In the absence of Charles, Brannon
was in foul trouble early in the second half when Slammers local players
stepped up to the plate. Dasom sank a three-point shot, Ghogar made a reverse
lay-up and a pair of free throws from Kannut Samerjai shaved the Warriors lead
to 71-63 with 4:11 left. Baguion had a chance to bring the Slammers within 4
with 43 seconds left but his three-point shot did not go down. With this win,
the Warriors are now 12-3.
Baguion led the Slammers with 17 points, Brannon had 12
points and Samerjai finished with 11 points. Ghogar added 10 points and 8
rebounds for the Slammers who are still holding on the fourth position with a
record of 6-10.
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| John Smith goes up for the lay-up. |
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| Jerick Cañada has been solid for the Warriors. |
WESTPORTS
MALAYSIA DRAGONS over INDONESIA WARRIORS, 80-79
It was a back and forth at MABA Stadium, Malaysia but at the
buzzer the Westports Malaysia Dragons ended the Warriors win streak at five
games with an 80-79 win.
Justin Melton was everywhere on the court as he finished
with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Moala Tautuaa had 16 points, Gavin
Edwards and Marcus Hubbard chipped in 14 points each for the Dragons who
improved to 9-7.
Both teams were red hot from the arc in this game and
combined for a total of 29 three-pointers.
Wuysang continued his hot-streak and finished as the leading
scorer of this game with 20 points. John Smith finished with 17 points while
Chris Daniels posted a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
The Warriors were fully in control in the first half. Amin
Prihantono sank back to back three pointers to give the Warriors their first
double-digit lead at 29-18 with 6:58 left before halftime.
Down 10 points at the half, the Dragons came out of the
locker determined to turn things around. The Dragons started the third quarter
with a 12-0 run after Tautuaa, Melton and Hubbard successfully made four
straight three-point shots to put the Dragons back in front, 44-42.
The final quarter was action-packed. A pair of free throws
from Steven Thomas tied the game at 70 all with 5:22 left and set up an
exciting finish for the game. With four minutes left on the clock, Melton
grabbed a rebound and stepped on the gas to make a lay-up on the other end and
drew the foul from John Smith. Melton completed the three point play and gave
the Dragons a 75-70 lead.
The Warriors reponded to Melton’s three-point play with a
pair of threes from John Smith and Wuysang, giving the Warriors back a 76-75
lead with 2:30 left. Then Edwards came up huge for the Dragons down the
stretch. He blocked Thomas’ shot at one end and converted a three-point play on
the other end to give the Dragons an 80-76 lead with 53 seconds left.
The Warriors decided
not to foul after Wuysang knocked down a three to get them within one point
with 29 seconds left. With a 5 second difference between the game clock and
shot clock, Hubbard missed his jumpshot but the Warriors were not able to get
off a shot as time ran out. With this loss, the Warriors move down to second
with a record of 12-4.
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| Julius Armon skies for the deuce. |
SAN MIGUEL
BEERMEN over JOBSTREET.COM SINGAPORE SLINGERS, 80-69
The San Miguel Beermen completed a five-game sweep of the
JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers this season after an 80-69 win at the Ynares
Sports Arena, Philippines. With this win, the Beermen stretched their win streak
to eight games and strengthened their position at the top of the ABL standings
table with a record of 11-3.
Chris Banchero continued to carry the Beermen and played at
an MVP level as he finished with 19 points. Asi Taulava followed with a
double-double after posting 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Beermen also
received a big boost from forward Hans Thiele who scored 11 points off the
bench.
Still in the hunt for the fourth and final playoffs spot,
the Slingers were determined to steal this game. Phillip Morrison got it going
in the first quarter. Morrison finished the first quarter with a baseline
running shot over Paulo Hubalde. The Fil-am guard scored 12 points in the first
ten minutes and the Slingers took a 21-16 lead.
Down by 8 points after a Rashaad Singleton dunk, the Beermen
responded with a 10-0 run capped by back to back baskets from Justin Williams,
giving the Beermen a 32-30 lead.
However, the score was deadlocked at 34 at halftime.
The Beermen opened up the third quarter with a reverse lay-up
from Brian Williams. Then Banchero drove hard to the basket for back to back
lay-ups which gave the Beermen a 40-34 lead. Midway throught the third quarter,
the Beermen kept attacking the Slingers’ defense. The Beermen went up 54-43
after RJ Rizada completed a three-point play.
But the Slingers just wouldn’t go away. Wu Qingde opened the
final quarter by sinking a shot that danced around on the rim before it went
in, shaving the Beermen’s lead to 5 points. The Slingers then had a chance to
cut it to three points but Morrison missed an off-balance jumpshot and Jennings
missed a left handed hook shot. The Beermen capitalized on the Slingers’ misses
by scoring on a fastbreak. Justin Williams ran the break and finished a lay-up
and drew the foul, this play was followed by another lay-up from Banchero off a
nice pass from Hubalde which gave the Beermen a 62-52 lead.
Despite limited playing time this season, Thiele made an
impact in this game. Thiele was everywhere on the court. His putback and free
throw gave the Beermen a 72-58 lead. The former University of the East star
then put the dagger in after scoring on a one dribble pull up to send the game
away with 2:37 left.
It was a tough night for the Slingers as they had to play
without their local star Wong Wei Long.
Desmond Oh then suffered a shoulder injury late in the fourth quarter.
Morrison was a bright spot for the Slingers in this game as he finished with an
ABL career-high 28 points. Jennings added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the
Slingers who are now on the fifth position with 5-11.
Source: Game recaps were
compressed and compiled from AseanBasketballLeague.com.
Images: Images are
from AseanBasketballLeague.com.
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