Even without PJ Ramos, San Miguel Alab Pilipinas completed their mastery over the hapless Zhuhai Wolf Warriors.
The defending champions capped their four-game regular season series against Zhuhai with a dominant 108-81 demolition to complete the sweep, Sunday evening at the Sta. Rosa Multipurpose Sports Complex in Laguna.
Ramos, who posted a line of 15 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists last Friday against the same team on the road, was slapped with a one-game suspension for this contest after incurring his fifth technical foul of the season.
It would have been tough the 7-foot-3 Puerto Rican’s production. But two of Alab’s young stalwarts were up to the task.
Caelan Tiongson finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks while Brandon Rosser added 16 points on an efficient 6-of-11 shooting with four rebounds and three dimes.
With the two clicking, Alab would outscore the visitors 32 to 23 in the second stanza to turn the game into a whitewashing.
As usual, Bobby Ray Parks Jr. and Renaldo Balkman would lead the way for Alab with the reigning local MVP tallying 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists while the last season’s DPOY finished with 20 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks.
Alab would lead by as much as 35 points in the game, 102-67, after a Pao Javelona triple with 4:38 left.
The Philippine-based club team has dominated all four of their encounters with Zhuhai, winning by an average margin of 20.5 points per game.
This is Alab’s 11th home win in as many games to lift their record to 14-3. Zhuhai, on the other hand, dropped to 2-16.
Chen Cai was one of the few bright spots for Zhuhai as he tallied 32 points built on five triples. Cory Bradford added 23 markers while Mike Bell tallied a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Alab will next head to Thailand to take on the Mono Vampire on February 23.
The Scores:
San Miguel 108 – Balkman 20, Parks 17, Rosser 16, Tiongson 14, Domingo 12, Javelona 8, Urbiztondo 5, Alvano 4, Alabanza 4, Torres 4, Rivero 4, Sumalinog 0.
Zhuhai 81 – Cai 32, Bradford 23, Bell 11, Patterson 5, Yan 4, Sun 2, Liu 2, Li 0, Xianchao 0.
Quarterscores: 28-18, 60-41, 87-59, 108-81.
