The San Miguel Beermen gained some distance between
themselves and the second-running Indonesia Warriors this past week. San
Miguel’s win over the Slammers coupled with Indonesia going 1-1 gave the Beermen
a 1.5 game lead over the Warriors in the standings. The Malaysia Dragons,
meanwhile, who gave the Warriors their lone loss this past week, hiked their
slate up to 10 wins and 8 losses.
This past Wednesday, the Beermen beat the Thailand Slammers,
78-70, leaning on the 18 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds of old-man-can Asi
Taulava. Other locals also came to play, with Leo Avenido and Paolo Hubalde
scoring 15 and 14 points respectively. On the other end, it was Christien
Charles who led the way for the Thais, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10
boards.
On the same day, the Indonesia Warriors welcomed Stanley
Pringle back into the fold with a victory over the cellar-dwelling Saigon Heat,
77-63. Jai Reyes, David Palmer, and Justin Howard all combined for 52 markers
to lead the hometown Heat, but even that terrific triumvirate’s production was
not enough to beat the Warriors. The Indons had four guys score in the
double-digits so they could move a little closer to the Beermen’s top spot. American
imports Steve Thomas and Chris Daniels paired up for 33 points, while Pinoy
imports John Smith and Jerick Cañada scored 15 and 14 markers respectively to
underscore the Warriors’ dominance.
That dominance, however, wasn’t very evident against the
Westports Malaysia Dragons last night. The Dragons, behind the 32-point
explosion of Marcus Hubbard, upended the Warriors and solidified their hold on
third place. Other imports Gavin Edwards, Julius Armon, and Justin Melton
scored at least 11 points to backstop Hubbard, while the Warriors 20 markers
from Thomas and 19 each from Pringle and Daniels.
 |
| Chris Daniels and the Warriors fell to the Dragons. |
Now that Pringle is back in playing condition, it’ll be
really fun to see who the best Fil-American PG will be. Pringle was the clear
best last season, but SMB’s Chris Banchero has upped his play this year (get
well soon, Chris!), while Justin Melton has been a revelation for the Dragons.
Singapore’s Phillip Morrison is no slouch, too, so it’ll really be interesting
to see who’ll be remembered as this season’s best Fil-Am playmaker. My bet,
however, is on Banchero, especially if the Beermen go on to win the big one and
mainly because he has the more impressive body of work.
Game Recaps:
SAN MIGUEL
BEERMEN over SPORTS REV THAILAND SLAMMERS, 78-70
The Beermen extended their win-streak to 11 games tonight
after handing the Slammers a 78-70 loss at Nimibutr Stadium, Thailand. This win
keeps them at the top of the standings with a record of 14-3.
Asi Taulava stepped things up in the final quarter and
finished the game with 18 points. Leo Avenido chipped in with 15 points and
Paulo Hubalde rounded up the Beermen’s top 3 scorers with his 14 points.
Leo Avenido started the game by sinking his first 3
three-pointers. RJ Rizada’s lay-up capped off a run to give the Beermen an 11-2
lead to open up the game. The Slammers answered with their own run that brought
them to within four points at 12-8 only a minute later, but that was as close
as the Slammers got in the first period. The Beermen pushed both ends of the
court, limiting the Slammers to just 1 point for the remainder of the period to
lead 28 to 12 going into the second.
16 points down, Christien Charles made a statement as he
dunked to start off the Slammers scoring in the second quarter. This began the
Slammers climb back into the game which resulted in Darongpan Apiromvilaichai’s
three at the mid-way point, placing the Slammers back within striking distance
at 24-31.
The Slammers kept it tight heading into the halftime break
and limited the Beermen to just 8 points in the entire second quarter. Charles
ended the quarter the way he started it, with a strong dunk, and the Slammers
head into the break trailing by just 3 at 33 to 36.
The Slammers came into the second half a different team and
Pairach Sekteera gave the Slammers their first lead of the game 37 to 36 with
8:46 left to play in the third quarter. After a bit of back and forth, Baguion
sank a long three with four minutes remaining in the period and 3 seconds left
on the shot clock to put the Slammers up 47 to 41. The Beermen were not hitting
their mark offensively in the third period and were limited to just 6 points up
until the final two minutes when Val Acuna and Brian Williams helped close the
gap to 46-53 heading into the final period.
Asi Taulava set things up for a Beermen revival in the
fourth quarter after he converted four consecutive free throw attempts that
brought the Beermen to within 5 at 50-55. Paulo Hubalde also had a spectacular
fourth period and his free throws at the mid-way point pulled the Beermen in to
just one point at 60 to 59. Taulava then tied things up with 3:28 remaining on
the clock at 64 all.
Knowing full well their streak was on the line the Beermen
powered on off solid performances from Taulava and Hubalde who combined for 23
of the Beermen’s tally of 32 in the fourth quarter. In the end, Taulava’s free
throws sealed the deal for the Beermen who keep their streak alive as they walk
out of Thailand with the 78-70 win.
Christien Charles led the Slammers with 16 points and 10
rebounds followed by Darongpan Apiromvilaichai who recorded 12.
 |
| Asi Taulava continued to dominate against the Slammers. |
INDONESIA
WARRIORS over SAIGON HEAT, 77-63
The Indonesia Warriors used a frantic start to the third
quarter to pull away and beat the Saigon Heat 77-63 at Tan Binh Stadium,
Vietnam.
Steven Thomas led the Warriors with 17 points. Chris Daniels
had a great all-around game as he finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds, 6
assists and 6 steals. John Smith added 15 points and Jerick Canada chipped in
14 points for the Warriors who improved to 13-4.
After sitting on the sidelines for the first 15 weeks of the
regular season, Stanley Pringle made his return in this game. Pringle checked
in to the game with 4:44 left in the first quarter. Pringle finished with 2
points on 1 for 10 shooting in 24 minutes.
The depleted Heat team gave the Warriors all they could
handle in the first half. A lay-up from David Palmer and Chris Sumalinog
briefly gave the Heat a 24-23 lead with 5:36 left in the second quarter. But
the Warriors immediately turned the table with their defense and answered with
a 12-0 run. Daniels came up with a steal which was converted into a lay-up by
Canada then Thomas scored on Palmer on the next possesion, giving the Warriors
a 35-24 lead with 3:17 left before halftime.
It was all Warriors in the third quarter. Amin Prihantono
sank a three-point shot to start a 11-2 run in the opening of the period. The
Warriors had their biggest lead in the game, 64-41, after Canada made two pump
fakes on Palmer and knocked down a bank shot. The Warriors outscored the Heat
26-10 in the third quarter.
Down 21 points heading into the final quarter, the Heat
tried to make a rally. Newly recruited Justin Howard, who replaced the injured
Dior Lowhorn, came in and provided the Heat with great energy. Howard made a
hook shot with 2:32 left, cutting the Heat’s deficit 72-58. Unfortunately that
was as close as the Heat could get. Mario Wuysang knocked down a three-point
shot with 2:15 left to ensure the Warriors win.
Reyes scored 18 points and Palmer finished with 17 points.
Howard had an impressive debut with the Heat after scoring 17 points and
grabbing 16 rebounds. Howard will be playing with the Heat for the remainder of
the season.
 |
| Chris Daniels jams one home in Saigon. |
WESTPORTS
MALAYSIA DRAGONS over INDONESIA WARRIORS, 86-85
It was another wild finish between the Indonesia Warriors
and the Westports Malaysia Dragons and in a moment of déjà vu the Dragons
grabbed another one point win at 86-85. With this win, the Dragons solidified
their position on third with a 10-8 record.
Marcus Hubbard had his best performance in a Dragons jersey
in this game and finished with 32 points while shooting 60% from the field.
Gavin Edwards contributed 18 points and Julius Armon also had a career night
with 17 points.
The Dragons started the game slow and were scoreless in the
first minutes as the Warriors grabbed a 4-point lead. Julius Armon then gave
the Dragons their first lead at 7-6 at the six minute mark. A John Smith 3 put
the Warriors back on top at 11-7 and the Warriors took back control to end the
quarter leading 18-11.
Stanley Pringle got his first start of the season and showed
little signs of ring rust as he finished the first half with 12 out of the
Warriors’ 32 points. With the Dragons closing in to just 4 at 25-21, Pringle
grabbed the rebound drives through traffic, draws and converts a free throw to
regain the 9 point lead 30-21 with 4 minutes left till the half. With Chris
Daniels and Steve Thomas forced to withdraw to the bench due to foul trouble, Dragons
stage a run to close in to 35-32 with 2:25 on the clock. However, Pringle and
John Smith takes advantage of the Dragons sloppy defense and ended the quarter
defending their lead 39-32.
The Warriors come off the break by increasing their lead to
7 before back to back threes by Smith gives the Warriors a 45 to 32 lead. The
Dragons responded with a 11-2 run to cut the deficit to just four points at
47-43 with a little over 5:37 left in the quarter. A sensational move by
Edwards then turned it to a single possession game at 47-45 before Hubbard tied
things up at 47.
Back on the floor, Thomas swings the momentum back to the
Warriors as he puts in back to back baskets to stop the Dragons run. Canada
continued the Warriors comeback by slicing through traffic to further increase
the lead to 53-47. The Warriors headed into the fourth quarter on an 18-7 run
to finish with the 65-54 lead heading into the final period.
Dragons started the breathtaking fourth quarter on a run
capped by Melton going coast to coast for a lay-up to close in to 65-63 with 8
minutes left in the game. A John Ng three makes it a one point game at 68-69,
then an Armon three gave the Dragons the lead 71-69 only for Daniels to lock
things back up at 71 on the next possession. Then Pringle stole the ball off
Melton and launched into a two on one fast break which was converted by Canada.
The Warriors are now back up 73-71 with 5 minutes on the clock. Pringle
continued a great performance by converting 3-pt play to ensure the Warriors
maintained a lead at 76-73.
Hubbard then gave the Dragons back the lead at 79-78 with
less than 3:30 on the clock. Edwards extended the lead to 81-78 on the next
possession. Pringle once again brought the Warriors within one point at 82-83
with 30 seconds on the clock. With just 9 seconds to go the Dragons forced a
foul, putting Edwards on the free throw line. Edwards calmly makes both free
throws giving the Warriors the final possession with a 3 point deficit.
In the final nail-biting moments, Hubbard fouled Pringle,
sending him to the line. Unfortunately Pringle misses both his attempts. Melton
grabbed the rebound and drew a foul to get to the line at the other end of the
court. Although Melton split his free throws it was enough to ice the game and
despite a last ditch three from Thomas the Dragons grab the win 86-85.
 |
| Justin Melton has been a revelation for the Dragons. |
Source:
Game recaps were
compressed and compiled from AseanBasketballLeague.com.
Images: Images are
from AseanBasketballLeague.com.
0 Comment