Hong Kong snuffs Alab Pilipinas in Cebu
Credit to Author: JEREMIAH M. SEVILLA| Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2019 16:27:54 +0000
San Miguel Alab Pilipinas suffered an 88-90 loss to Hong Kong Eastern Sports Club in Game One of their quarterfinal match-up in Season 9 Asean Basketball League (ABL) on Friday night at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
Defending champion Alab Pilipinas squandered a 15-point lead early in the third quarter as it dropped to a virtual twice-to-win disadvantage in the best-of-three series.
The second-seeded Filipino ball club heads into a must-win Game Two against the seventh-seeded Hong Kong squad on Wednesday at the Southern Stadium.
Alab started the second half with a 14-7 run capped by PJ Ramos’ layup for a huge 58-43 lead but Hong Kong fought back resulting in a seesaw battle down the stretch.
Two-time Local MVP Ray Parks Jr. sank a jumper for an 86-85 Alab advantage with 39 seconds remaining in the game.
Tsz Lai Lau drained a triple off O’Darien Bassett’s assist and Marcus Elliott converted his free throws to give the Long Lions a 90-86 lead with 13 ticks left.
Renaldo Balkman scored on a layup to reduce the gap, 88-90, then Alab forced a backcourt violation for a chance to win or send the match to overtime.
Parks’ potential game-tying jumper was blocked by Michael Holyfield as time expired.
Puerto Rican import Balkman led Alab with 30 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists while countryman Ramos added 17 markers, seven boards and four dimes.
Fil-American guard Caelan Tiongson contributed 13 points while Parks had 10 markers.
American reinforcement Bassett paced Hong Kong with 29 points, seven assists and four rebounds while Elliott and Holyfield chipped in 22 and 14 markers, respectively.
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