Pinoy point guards run show in ABL
MANILA, Philippines - While the American imports expectedly grabbed the lion’s share in scoring and rebounding in the third AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League, two diminutive point guards from the Philippine teams are showing the way in other key departments.
Al Vergara of pacesetting AirAsia Philippine Patriots (6-1) topped ‘em all when it comes to assists, dishing off 6.67 per game after the first round. He complemented this with an average of 11.43 points and two steals, the fifth best in the league, to help the Patriots take the first round pennant.
Froilan Baguion of San Miguel Beermen (5-2) was the No. 1 “pickpocket,” averaging 2 an outing to go with a second-best 4.71 feeds as he played a crucial role in SMB’s rise to joint second with Westports Malaysia Dragons through seven outings.
Interestingly, Julius Hodge an import from the league’s doormat Saigon Heat (0-7) held the fort in scoring 25 points in his six games for the expansion team....
Bangkok Cobras win in Vietnam
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – The Bangkok Cobras played with an unforgiving defense and held the Saigon Heat to only five field goals in the second half to claim a 76-61 victory in an ASEAN Basketball League game here last night.
Michael Earl led the Cobras with 19 points. Gentry Lewis contributed with his double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Saigon jumped to a 12-2 lead early after a Jonathan Jones three-point shot. Jones finished the first half with 21 points, giving the Heat a 40-36 lead going into the second half....
Slammers shrink in the third, Patriots keep league lead
The AirAsia Patriots needed a huge 30-13 third quarter to rally from an early Chang Thailand Slammers lead, gutting out an 81-72 victory to stay in first place, Saturday at the Thai Japanese Association Gym.
Seven first quarter turnovers by the Patriots allowed the Slammers to seize the advantage early, as they built an 11-point lead on the backs of Kenneth Walker and Deandre Thomas, 29-18.
Baskets by Walker and Boyet Bautista then extended the lead twice to 13, at the 9:19 mark and again at 8:13 in the second period, but the Slammers' offense ground to a halt, scoring just one point in three and a half minutes of play....
Beermen shoot 50 percent, overwhelm Warriors
The San Miguel Beermen buried the Indonesia Warriors early and late, strengthening their hold of second place with a 77-61 win Saturday at the Mahaka Square.
A 7-0 start by San Miguel became a 22-11 lead by the end of the game's first ten minutes, half coming from the Beermen's imports, Thomas Kim and Darlon Johnson.
A basket by Kim in the third quarter stretched their lead to as high as 13, 54-41, 2:39 left in the third, but the Warriors were able to unleash an 11-3 run to close the period, making things more competitive entering the fourth down five, 57-52....
Patriots down Slammers; Beermen win
MANILA, Philippines - Nakiea Miller and Al Vergara knocked down clutch baskets as AirAsia Phl Patriots trounced defending titlist Chang Thailand Slammers, 81-72, to take the first round pennant in the third AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League last night at the Thai Japanese Association Gym in Bangkok.
Miller (14 points, nine rebounds, six assists) and Vergara (12 points, eight assists) strung up five straight points one after the other in the last 3:43 as the Patriots quashed the final stand of the Slammers en route to a league-leading 6-1 win-loss card.
Anthony Johnson topscored with 21 markers, nine caroms and six feeds while Jonathan Fernandez added 12 in a 4-of-5 clip from rainbow country to essay a balanced attack for the Patriots, who overturned a 13-point deficit and seized control with a big 30-13 third quarter lead....
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