MANILA — Alab Pilipinas thwarted a furious fourth-quarter run by the Singapore Slingers to escape with a thrilling 74-72 win in the Asean Basketball League at the Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan, Laguna, Friday night.
Alab was up 74-63 following Jeric Fortuna's 3-pointer with 3:20 to left in the game.
But the Slingers, led by Wei Long and Xavier Alexander, uncorked a 9-0 blast to pull within 2 with 17.4 seconds to go.
| ABL standings | ||||
| Team | Won | Lost | Next game | |
| Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions | 5 | 1 | Malaysia (Jan. 13) | |
| Singapore Slingers | 7 | 2 | Alab (Jan. 13) | |
| Alab Pilipinas | 4 | 2 | Singapore (Jan. 13) | |
| Westports Malaysia Dragons | 1 | 4 | Hong Kong (Jan. 13) | |
| Kaohsiung Truth | 1 | 5 | Saigon (Jan. 14) | |
| Saigon Heat | 0 | 4 | Kaohsiung (Jan. 14) | |
| ~Standings updated after Jan. 13 games | ||||
Bobby Ray Parks Jr. top-scored for Alab with 17 points on 6-of-11 field-goal shooting. He also had 9 rebounds and 4 assists, including a couple of drop passes to Lawrence Domingo.
Domingo had a productive night for Alab with 14 points on 7-of-11 field-goal shooting to go with 10 rebounds. On the defensive end, he was impressive in containing Alexander.
Fortuna contributed 12 points, including a couple of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
It was Alab’s first victory this season over the Slingers, who beat the Philippine club in their first two encounters. The Singaporeans downed Alab, 71-66, in Parks and co.'s home debut, then followed that up with a 71-68 victory at OCBC Arena in Singapore.
“As a whole, everybody was starting to do their part, learn their roles. We’re all happy for everybody and that’s good. We have a real good team camaraderie,” Domingo said.
Alab led by as many as 11 points, but the Slingers unleashed a 14-4 run to to gain a 60-59 lead.
Parks and Fortuna then orchestrated a 14-3 blitz that pushed the Alab ahead, 74-63.
Up by just 2 with 17 seconds left, Alab relied on its scrambling defense, forcing Alexander to throw up a tightly contested shot as the clock ticked away.
Alab improved its record to 4-2 while the Slingers remained on top of the standings with a 7-2 mark.
(All Alab Pilipinas home games are aired live on S+A and live-streamed through sports.abs-cbn.com/livestream/abl)
For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.
0 comments :
Post a Comment