San Miguel Alab Pilipinas weathered a huge endgame surge by Saigon, picking up an 82-75 bounce back win in the 2019-20 ABL Season, Sunday at Sta. Rosa Multi Purpose Sports Complex.
Up by as much as 23 points, 60-37, midway through the third canto, Saigon stormed back in the final frame. It sliced the lead down to just four, 79-75, after Sam Thompson’s free throws with 40 seconds left.
A Nick King find to Sam Deguara underneath for a jam seconds later fortunately stopped Alab’s bleeding. Misses from Chris Dierker and Dhan Khoa Tran then sealed the deal for the home team.
This was a huge win for Alab, who is coming off a deflating 63-91 road loss to the Malaysia Dragons, last Tuesday.
Alab raised their slate to 9-5 to tie the Taipei Fubon Braves for second in the standings.
King set the tone for Alab, scoring 18 of his 25 points in the first half while also tallying 12 rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Deguara had 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, 12 rebounds, and four steals. Jeremiah Gray added 12 markers, while Jason Brickman glued things together with 14 dimes.
Saigon fell to a league-worst 2-9.
On the other hand, Thompson led the Heat with 32 points and 11 rebounds. Tyshawn Taylor tallied 15 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
The two teams will next face off on Sunday, February 23 at the same venue. Up next for Alab is Malaysia on Wednesday, February 19, at MABA Stadium.
The Scores:
San Miguel Alab 82 — King 26, Deguara 15, Gray 13, Heading 9, Domingo 6, Brickman 5, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, Williams 2, Vigil 2, Caracut 0, Aban 0, Rangel 0.
Saigon 75 — Thompson 32, Taylor 15, White 10, Tran 7, Young 5, Dierker 2, Nguyen 2, Dinh 2.
Quarterscores: 25-15, 50-31, 71-54, 82-75.
