San Miguel Alab Pilipinas comes from behind to nip Formosa Dreamers in ABL
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2019 11:46:10 +0000
KHALIF Wyatt sank the winning triple as San Miguel Alab Pilipinas pulled off a come from behind 100-99 victory over the Formosa Dreamers to close the year at the top of Season 10 Asean Basketball League (ABL) on Sunday at the Changhua Stadium in Taiwan.
Dubbed as “Mr. Clutch”, Wyatt drained the dagger three-pointer over Jerran Young with 27 seconds remaining, keeping Alab atop the 10-team regional tournament with a fourth straight win against a season-opening loss.
The Filipino ball club needed to claw its way back from an early 17-point deficit and survive the late explosion of 2018 World MVP Anthony Tucker to set up the 6-foot-4 guard Wyatt’s heroics.
Wyatt finished with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal while 7-foot-5 center Sam Deguara posted a team-high 20 points on top of nine boards.
Nick King chipped in 19 points and five assists even as playmaker Jason Brickman tallied a 12-marker, 12-dime double-double and Lawrence Domingo added 10 points in the thrilling triumph.
Staring at a 32-49 deficit midway through the second quarter, Deguara and King bullied their way inside to fuel a 19-10 run that allowed Alab to trim the gap down to 51-59 at halftime.
Brickman’s hot hands beyond the arc kept the visitors within jabbing distance before taking their first taste of the lead on Domingo’s reverse layup off Brandon Rosser’s bounce pass, 79-77, late in the third frame.
It was a nip-and-tuck battle from there, with Tucker hitting four consecutive treys to hand the home squad a 99-97 lead with 1:21 left in the game.
But Wyatt responded with his own huge triple that became the eventual game-winner as Tucker missed two three-point attempts and Young muffed a jumper as time expired.
Jordan Tolbert had a game-high 25 points and nine rebounds but barely made his presence felt in the closing stretch as Formosa fell to 2-4.
Tucker’s triple-double of 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the Dreamers also went to waste. JEREMIAH M. SEVILLA