Game Today
(Sta. Rosa, Laguna)
8 p.m. – Alab Pilipinas vs Hong Kong
San Miguel Alab Pilipinas bucked the absence of Ray Parks Jr. to exact revenge on the Westports Malaysia Dragons, 85-47, Friday night to stay on top of the ASEAN Basketball League at the City of Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex in Laguna.
PJ Ramos posted 25 points and 11 rebounds as Alab coasted to its ninth victory in 11 outings while avenging their heartbreaking 73-72 defeat to the Dragons earlier this month in Kuala Lumpur.
Renaldo Balkman had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Paolo Javelona was the other double-digit scorer with 11.
Alab prevailed despite missing Parks who suffered a strained groin in Sunday’s 110-100 overtime win over Thailand’s Mono Vampire at the same venue.
Coach Jimmy Alapag’s wards are looking to end the grueling month on a winning note when Alab plays Hong Kong Eastern for the second time on Sunday at the same venue.
The contest caps off a grueling eight-game stretch for the San Miguel Beer-backed team.
Alapag and company are 5-2 this month, the two defeats coming at the expense of the Dragons in Kuala Lumpur and the Formosa Dreamers in Changhua, Taiwan.
Alab defeated Hong Kong, 87-75, last Jan. 11 in Sta. Rosa as it capitalized on the early foul trouble of Eastern’s 7-foot-5 reinforcement Sam Deguara.
Winston Shepard and Chris Eversley scored 12 and 10 points for Malaysia, which fell to 5-6.
Singaporean guard Jonathan Wong, whose layup over Caelan Tiongson turned out to be the eventual winner in their first meeting, was held to just five points on 2-of-9 shooting.
Hong Kong tries to deal Alab its first home defeat behind high-scoring imports Marcus Elliott and O’Darien Bassett and local guard Lee Ki.
