By JONAS TERRADO
Game Tomorrow
(City of Sta. Rosa
Multi-Purpose Complex)
8 p.m. – Alab Pilipinas vs Mono Vampire
STA. ROSA, Laguna – Justin Brownlee was glad that his record night didn’t go to waste Sunday after fellow import Renaldo Balkman’s game-tying putback allowed San Miguel Alab Pilipinas to escape with a 143-130 overtime victory over Thailand’s Mono Vampire and gain the upperhand in the ASEAN Basketball League Finals here.
Balkman sent the series opener to a five-minute extension when his follow-up with 1.3 seconds left tied the score at 121-all after Brownlee, usually known for delivering in the clutch, missed two free throws and a layup try after grabbing his own rebound that left the crowd at the City of Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex in a frenzy.
The tying basket gave Alab the momentum it needed in the overtime session while leaving Mono a deflated squad after nearly taking the homecourt advantage away from the Filipino squad with a four-point lead with 17 seconds left in the fourth.
“We’re a team that depend on each other. One man can’t do it,” Brownlee said after scoring an ABL Finals record 46 points on the eve of his 30th birthday . “Unfortunately I missed those two free throws, I’m still knocking myself out for that.
“But it’s a team sport. We got to depend on each other. I missed the two free throws and the putback but Balkman was there,” he added. “That’s just the character of our team. We want to continue to build on that. Chemistry and playing together.”
While that basket was the defining moment of the highest-scoring game in league history, Alab coach Jimmy Alapag felt Brownlee’s three-point shot moments earlier was more important.
Brownlee’s three came after Mono took a 120-116 lead on two freebies by import Mike Singletary. The same player would split his charities and Brownlee handed 7-foot-5 center Sam Deguara his fifth and final foul, setting the stage for the wild sequence.
“I thought that was probably the biggest shot of the game because it kept us in it, and it set up the last play for Balk’s putback,” said Alapag.
Mono’s American coach Douglas Marty later lamented on the missed opportunity which came not after Deguara fouling out, but also missing Fil-American guard Jason Brickman in the crucial stretch due to cramps.
Brickman, who two years ago won the ABL title for the Westports Malaysia Dragons, had 15 points and 14 assists – also a Finals record.
Marty also expressed no issue in Brownlee barely avoiding a free throw violation when he grabbed the rebound after intentionally missing the second foul attempt.
“It was probably legal,” Marty said.
