The Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions torched Alab Pilipinas and their streak in the Filipinos’ first trip to Hong Kong.
Behind their hot-shooting, the Long Lions proved to be too much for Alab, taking a 93-80 wim to gain solo second, Sunday evening at the Southorn Stadium in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
The loss dropped Alab to 5-3 and third place, and they will have to wait until March 10 before they can exact revenge on the Lions.
Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. flirted with a triple-double with 23 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. However, he committed seven of Alab’s 21 turnovers.
Alab were able to keep pace with their fellow ABL neophytes to start the game but the Long Lions, who had come off a loss against the Singapore Slingers, vented all its frustration on the Filipinos.
The duo of Marcus Elliott and Patrick Sullivan combined in the second frame in a game-breaking 32-12 rally. Elliott scored nine points in that quarter that saw the lead balloon to 28 points, 53-35, with 1:12 remaining in the half, after he converted on three free throws.
Thai-American Tyler Lamb continued the onslaught in the third frame, scoring 10 of his 23 points in the frame to further punish Alab.
Alab could only cut the lead to as low as 13 points as turnovers continued to plague them in the second half.
James Hughes notched a double-double for Alab with 19 points and 16 rebounds, but aside from him and Parks, Alab shot just 16-of-45 from the field. The Long Lions, on the other hand, knocked down 12 of their 31 attempts from distance and were able to convert on 17 of their 19 free throw attempts.
Elliott scored 27 points in the game to go along with seven rebounds. Four other Long Lions, including Lamb, scored in double-figures, as Patrick Sullivan and Siu Wing Chan scored 14 and 11 points respectively. Steven Guinchard added 10.
Alab Pilipinas look to bounce back when they face the Saigon Heat on home soil. The game is scheduled to take place on Friday, January 27, at the Olivarez Gym in Parañaque City.
The Scores:
Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions (93) – Elliott 27, Lamb 23, Sullivan 14, Chan 11, Guinchard 10, Fong 6, Chung 2, Lee 0, Cheng 0, Poon 0, Lau 0, Tang 0.
Alab Pilipinas (80) – Parks Jr. 23, Hughes 19, Domingo 12, Carter 9, Celiz 8, Fortuna 3, Hubalde 2, Thiele 2, Knuttel 2, Acuna 0, Cawaling 0, Gavieres 0.
Quarterscores: 24-16, 55-37, 76-53, 93-80
Photo by ABL
