San Miguel Alab Pilipinas bounced back, fashioning a 101-96 come-from-behind win against Taipei Fubon in the 10th season of the ABL, Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
And Jeremiah Gray stepped up for Alab, doing it on both ends against OJ Mayo and the Braves.
With the game knotted at 91-all with 2:19 left, Khalif Wyatt found Nick King underneath for the go-ahead basket.
The 6-foot-4 Gray then manned up Mayo, swatting away the former NBA pro’s shot that led to a triple of his own.
Charles Garcia tried to will Fubon back, cutting the lead down to two, 96-94, with 1:13 left. The 23-year-old Gray would not be denied, though. He knocked down another huge triple before blocking Mayo on the other end to seal the win.
All in all, Gray finished with 17 points built on three triples to go along with six assists, five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.
It was a huge win for Alab as, besides going up to 5-2 for solo second, they were able to erase the memory of their 93-98 loss to the Wolf Warriors two days ago.
“I just felt like, the other night, we got to such a sluggish start, and it really kind of set the tone for the rest of the game… Kinda playing catch up. Last game, we had a couple of miscues at the end of the game, but I thought tonight, our energy was much better,” said Alapag.
The imports also bounced back, with Sam Deguara tallying 26 points and 14 rebounds; Nick King finishing with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists; and Khalif Wyatt posting 21 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
Brickman glued things together with eight assists.
“Our focus was much better and the guys really followed the game plan. Credit goes to them,” added Alapag.
Taipei Fubon, who fell to 6-4, was paced by Mayo with 35 points, nine assists, and six boards. Garcia added 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting.
Alab will head to Singapore to take on the Slingers on Sunday.
The Scores:
San Miguel Alab 101 –– Deguara 26, King 22, Wyatt 21, Gray 17, Brickman 5, Caracut 5, Domingo 2, Vigil 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 1, Heading 0.
Taipei Fubon 96 –– Mayo 35, Garcia 27, Esho 13, K. Lin 8, J. Lin 8, Hung 3, M. Lin 2, Tseng 0, Kuo 0, Weir Chern 0, C. Lin 0, Hung Hsing 0.
Quarterscores: 20-28, 44-44, 67-68, 101-96.