San Miguel Alab Pilipinas ended 2018 on a high note as they conquered the Singapore Slingers, 77-71, to book their fourth straight win in the 9th ASEAN Basketball League, Sunday night at the Caloocan Sports Center.
Still fresh from their 86-72 victory over the Formosa Dreamers in Laguna two nights ago, Alab has further strengthened their hold of the top spot of the team standings with a 4-0 slate. Singapore drop to 5-3.
PJ Ramos set the pace for the third-year Filipino ball club with 26 points – spiked by three triples – along with 17 rebounds and five assists. Fellow Puerto Rican Renaldo Balkman poured in 20 markers on 20 shots with 16 caroms.
Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. finished with 18 points and six boards.
Alab seized control of the match early in the second quarter. They ended the period with a 13-4 scoring spree — punctuated by a Balkman bucket — while turning their slim three-point lead to a 43-30 advantage at the halftime break.
Alab would go on to lead by 18, 54-36, with less than eight minutes remaining in the third chapter.
But the Slingers fought back afterwards. Come the final frame, import John Fields took matters in his own hands by scoring eight unanswered straight points to pull Singapore to within four, 71-75, with 25 seconds left.
But all his efforts went down the drain, as Parks Jr. calmly sank both of his freebies to apply the finishing touches and formalize Alab’s victory.
Fields, who reinforced the Columbian Dyip in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, led Singapore with 35 points. Jerran Young had 17 and 12, while Xavier Alexander had a triple-double of 10 points, 11 caroms, and 11 assists.
Alab will start their 2019 with a match versus the Zhuhai Wolf Warriors on January 6 in Cebu.
The Scores:
San Miguel Alab 77 – Ramos 26, Balkman 20, Parks 18, Tiongson 7, Alvano 4, Rosser 2, Domingo 0, Urbiztondo 0, Javelona 0.
Singapore 71 – Fields 35, Young 17, Alexander 10, Goh 6, Ng 3, Low 0, Lim 0, Tay 0.
Quarterscores: 22-18, 43-31, 62-55, 77-71.
