In a battle between two squads boasting the longest winning and losing streaks in the ASEAN Basketball League, San Miguel Alab Pilipinas came out on top as expected, blowing out the hapless Formosa Dragons, 117-93, Sunday evening at the Sta. Rosa Arena in Laguna.
This is the second win of Alab against the Taiwanese club team, having beaten them on the road last December 16 with a score of 78-61.
Besides their mastery of the Dreamers, the Philippine-based squad extended its winning streak to eight games, lifting its slate to 11-4 — just 1.67 percentage points behind second-running Chong Son Kung Fu.
The same could not be said for the also-ran Formosa, as their futility extended to 12 games.
Justin Brownlee filled up the stat sheet with 27 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, four blocks, and two steals. Reigning World Import of the Week Renaldo Balkman tallied 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds and five swats.
Reigning Local Most Valuable Player Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. chimed in 15 markers in just 26 minutes of game time, while Dondon Hontiveros, who made his first start of the season, added 11 markers.
Alab methodically dismantled the Dreamers all throughout the contest, leading by as much as 26 points during the closing minutes of the game, 115-89.
Besides the starters, Alab also received significant bench support this time. Filipino-American forward Lawrence Domingo led the mob with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds. Oping Sumalinog chipped in 11 markers.
The Dreamers, who were still in the game during the third canto, were paced by Cameron Forte. The World Import had 29 points and 21 rebounds. Ronnie Aguilar had 20 points and 11 rebounds as well.
Outside of Sung Wei Wu who had 18 markers, Formosa’s World Imports could not get any support to combat the deep Alab squad.
Alab will next face the Westsports Malaysia Dragons on March 4.
The Scores:
Alab 117 – Brownlee 27, Balkman 21, Domingo 16, Parks Jr. 15, Hontiveros 11, Sumalinog 11, Urbiztondo 9, Raymundo 3, Javelona 2, Alabanza 2, Celiz 0
Formosa 93 – Forte 29, Aguilar 20, Wu 18, Chen 10, Chien 7, Chou 4, Barratt 3, Yang 2, Li C 0, Tsai 0, Li P 0, Cheng 0
Quarterscores: 28-19, 52-38, 79-66, 117-93
