Game on Feb. 5
(Almendras Gym, Davao City)
8 p.m. – Alab Pilipinas vs Saigon
Ray Parks Jr. hit all of his eight three-pointers to set a new local record and Alab Pilipinas cruised past the Saigon Heat, 99-77, Friday in the ASEAN Basketball League at the Olivarez Sports Center in Paranaque City.
Playing in his hometown for the second time this season, Parks finished with 35 points spiked by those long-distance shots that erased the ABL’s previous mark of seven triples by Kaoshiung’s Wesley Hsu to give Alab a bounce-back victory following its 93-80 loss to the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions.
“It was just going in,” said Parks, who last month in the same venue fired a local record 41 points against Kaohsiung. “Me breaking the record didn’t happen without the trust and confidence of my teammates and coaches.”
World import Sampson Carter finally ended his scoring slump with 16 points while grabbing 12 rebounds even as fellow American James Hughes added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Alab, which improved to 6-3 but still in third place behind the Singapore Slingers (7-2) and Hong Kong (6-2).
Fil-American Lawrence Domingo, Alab’s energizer bunny, also posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds as the home team showed more fire and desire after the Hong Kong match saw them trailing by as many as 29 points.
“It’s basically challenging our players to show up,” coach Mac Cuan said. “Last game, they didn’t show up, and I told them that it’s character game for us after we got blown out.”
Saigon dropped to a league-worst 1-6 record, spoiling the Philippine debut of Fil-American standout Joshua Munzon.
Munzon, whose ABL stint is his first since finishing his collegiate career at California State University, Los Angeles, had 20 points, including a breakaway dunk during the early stages of the contest. But Alab went cruise control from there as Parks made five threes for 19 points, putting Alab ahead 28-14.