The San Miguel Beermen
continued to stay on top with big wins over the Saigon Heat and Malaysia
Dragons, while Singapore Slingers drew at 6 wins and 11 losses with their
victims, the Sports Rev Thailand Slammers, in the 2013 ASEAN Basketball League.
SMB set a record for longest
winning streak after blowing out the Saigon Heat, 101-49. Asi Taulava continued
to turn back time with 18 points on 9-of-12 FG shooting. Frontline partner
Justin Williams contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Chris Banchero and
Val Acuña scored 12 and 11 points respectively. Pinoy import Oping Sumalinog
led Saigon with 16 points, while Hoang Son Ly had 12.
The Beermen continued to win
two days after, this time against the Westports Malaysia Dragons, 80-62. Once
again, it was Taulava who led the way with 26 points on 13-of-19 shooting,
while Brian Williams added 13 points and 14 boards. Local players Leo Avenido
and Hans Thiele added 11 and 10 markers respectively. The visiting Dragons
dropped to 9-8 after this loss. They were led by Marcus Hubbard’s 15 points,
while Fil-Tongan Moala Tautuaa registered 11 markers and 12 boards.
This past Sunday, the
Singapore Slingers won a controversial game against the Sports Rev Thailand
Slammers, 62-56. There were some questionable calls and non-calls all
throughout the match, and it was put under protest by Slammers. The official
response of the ABL is that there WERE several mistakes made by the officials
and Riel Banaria, the ABL’s Coordinator of Basketball Operations and Officials,
reassured all parties that the necessary steps are being taken to further raise
the quality of officiating and game administration. Phillip Morrison and Rashad
Jones-Jennings led the Slingers with 26 and 16 points respectively.
Jones-Jennings also had 13 rebounds. On the other end, Froilan Baguion had 16
points and 6 dimes to lead Thailand. He was backstopped by Kannut Samerjai’s 11
markers and Christien Charles’s 16 boards. Both teams are now tied at fourth
spot in the league standings.
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| Rashad Jones-Jennings had a big game against the Slammers. |
Game Recaps:
SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN over SAIGON HEAT, 101-49
The San Miguel Beermen broke
the ABL record for longest win streak after clinching their ninth concecutive
win with a 101-49 win over Saigon Heat at Tan Binh Stadium earlier tonight.
With this win, the Beermen also set the record for biggest win margin in a
single game.
Asi Taulava led the Beermen
with 18 points, followed by Chris Banchero with 12 points. Val Acuna, Brian
Williams and Justin Williams chipped in 11 points each for the Beermen who
improve to 12-3 and remain on top of the ABL standings table.
Playing with only six
players and without David Palmer, who was serving a one game suspension, the
Heat managed a 13-10 lead with 3:51 left in the first quarter after a
three-point shot from Chris Sumalinog. However, Val Acuna sank a three-point
shot and Banchero scored on a lay-up which gave the Beermen the 23-17 lead
going into the second period.
Heat’s head coach Jason
Rabedeaux decided to take Dior Lowhorn out after only 11 minutes. With no
imports on the floor for the Heat, the Beermen took full advantage and stepped
on the gas in the second quarter. Acuna and J. Williams came off the bench and
provided instant offense. Acuna knocked down a three-point shot from the corner
and J. Williams split his free throws, putting the Beermen up 39-20 with 4:30
left before the half.
Despite the Beermen’s 17
point lead at halftime, they continued to attack the paint and played solid
defense. Taulava led the Beermen’s strike in the third quarter as he scored 10
points which included two dunks. Taulava’s dunk and lay-up gave the Beermen a
73-37 lead to put the game out of reach. In this win, all twelve Beermen
players were on the scoreboard. The Beermen outrebounded the Heat 50-29 and
finished with 62 points in the paint.
Chris Sumalinog led the Heat
with 16 points and Hoang Son Ly added 12 points. With Minh Trieu, Larry Tieu
and Jai Reyes sitting out due to injuries, the Heat’s other local players were
able to get more playing time and experience in this game.
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| Quan Trung tries to drive against SMB's huge frontline. |
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| Tuan Trung and the rest of the Heat were scorched by the hot hands of the Beermen. |
SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN over WESTPORTS MALAYSIA DRAGONS, 80-62
The pre-game hype was all
about the match-up between two of the league's elite point guards, Chris
Banchero and Justin Melton. But it was 40 year-old Asi Taulava who stole the
show as he scored an ABL career-high 26 points to help the San Miguel Beermen
grab a 80-62 win over Westports Malaysia Dragons for their 10th straight win.
The Beermen improve to 13-3 as they solidify their position at the top of the
ABL standings table.
Brian Williams finished with
13 points and 14 rebounds playing
against his former team. Leo Avenido added 11 points and Hans Thiele gave the
Beermen another great performance off the bench with 10 points.
It was a tight game in the
first half with both teams kept exchanging the lead. Then Hubbard gave the
Dragons a 32-29 lead with 2:55 left before halftime with his monster two-handed
slam. However, the Dragons were a little sloppy finishing the first half which
allowed the Beermen to take the lead before halftime. A pair of free throws
from Val Acuna and a lay-up from Avenido put the Beermen up by one point at
halftime.
Taulava decided to put the
Beermen on his back in the third quarter. Taulave was dominating the paint as
he scored 8 straight points against both Hubbard and Gavin Edwards. Taulava’s
8-0 run was capped with Taulava driving past Edwards to finish on the rim which
gave the Beermen a 43-34 lead.
Taulava, who won the AirAsia
Player of the month award for March, continued to dominate Edwards in the
fourth quarter as he scored back-to-back baskets on the Dragons center to gave
the Beermen a 64-54 lead with 5:33 left.
The Beermen’s defense was
very solid in the second half. The Williams duo protected the rim very well for
the Beermen as they both combined for 7 blocks in this game. Thiele, who has
been playing well lately, put the finishing touch in this win by hitting a long
jumpshot, giving the Beermen a 70-54 lead with 2:49 left.
"We want to enter the
Playoffs with a great momentum. We are just preparing ourselves for the
playoffs right now and playing San Miguel Basketball,” said Taulava after the
game.
The Dragons’ struggled
offensively in the third quarter, making only 10 field goals from 40 tries and
limited to 28 points in the second half. Hubbard led the Dragons with 15
points, followed by Julius Armon and Moala Tautuaa with 11 points each. Gavin
Edwards chipped in 10 points for the Dragons who are now at 9-8.
JOBSTREET.COM SINGAPORE SLINGERS over SPORTS REV THAILAND SLAMMERS,
62-56
It was an intense affair at
Nimibutr Stadium earlier tonight as the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers and
Sports Rev Thailand Slammers battled it out for a spot in the 2013 ABL
Playoffs. In the end, Phillip Morrison stepped up for the Slingers and scored 6
huge points in the last minute to lead the Slingers over the Slammers 62-56.
The playoffs race just got
more exciting as this win ties both teams up at fourth with a 6-11 record. The
season series between the two are also now tied up at two apiece. Both teams
will have their final meeting in the regular season at the end of the month in
the Singapore Indoor Stadium, an encounter which could determine who gets the
final playoffs ticket.
Phillip Morrison put in a
solid performance and led all scoring with 26 points. Rashad Jones-Jennings
contributed 16 points and 13 rebounds while Rashaad Singleton finished with 12
points for the Slingers.
The Slingers initially had
trouble with their offense and the Slammers took full advantage. Back to back
baskets from Froilan Baguion at the end of the first quarter gave the Slammers
a 19-10 lead.
The Slammers continued to
build their lead early in the second quarter. Chanachon Klahan gave the
Slammers their biggest lead in the game at 25-12 with his basket off a nice
assist from Baguion.
Struggling offensively, the
Slingers then used their defense to get back into the game. The Slammers were
limited to only 3 field goals and 13 points in the third quarter. Down by 9
points with 2:30 left in the third quarter, Singleton’s fade away shot sparked
a 7-2 run which shaved the Slammers lead to 45-41 going into the final quarter.
Baguion extended the
Slammers lead to 55-51 after he drove to the lane and made a tough running shot
with 5 minutes left in the game. The Slingers then had a couple of good chances
to cut their deficit but missed six straight free throws.
Despite his team struggling
from the free throw line, Morrison kept his head cool as he took over the game.
Morrison sank a tough three-point shot and a fade-away shot from the free throw
line to put the Slingers up 56-55 with a little under one minute left.
The Slammers lost their
composure with 7.6 seconds left in the game. After Kannut Samerjai was unable
to tie the game at 57 with his free throw, Baguion was called for a foul on
Desmond Oh. Baguion argued with the call and was hit with a technical foul. Oh
and Morrison knocked down four free throws that secured the Slingers win.
Not only did they drop a
heartbreaker but they also lost a chance to gain the lead for the fourth
position over the Slingers. Baguion had 16 points while Samerjai added 11
points for the Slammers. Chris Charles was held to only three points but
managed to grab 16 rebounds and blocked 5 shots.
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| Christien Charles tries to shoot over the Singapore interior defense. |
Source: Game recap was compressed and compiled from
AseanBasketballLeague.com.
Images are from AseanBasketballLeague.com and
SaigonHeat.com.
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