Already bruised and battered in the last stretch of the ABL’s regular season, San Miguel Alab Pilipinas suffered another blow, Friday evening.
Entering the contest, the Philippine-based club team was already without Caelan Tiongson (sprained right ankle) and Brandon Rosser (right knee).
“Caelan is still day-to-day, but Brandon will be out for the rest of the eliminations,” disclosed Alab head coach Jimmy Alapag.
During their game against the Macau Black Bears, Lawrence Domingo suffered an injury early in the quarter and did not return to close out the game.
Then with six minutes left in the third canto, Renaldo Balkman figured in a collision with Mikh McKinney. As the 6-foot-1 guard drove through the lane, he clashed heads with the 6-foot-8 big man, resulting in a bloody nose for Balkman.
Though Balkman went to the bench, he eventually asked Alapag to return to the game.
“He wanted to get in. If it was up to me, I would have sat him out but that’s who he is. He fights for these guys and he wants to defend what we have.”
The reigning ABL Defensive Player of the Year ended up with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists. His performance helped Alab pick up a 101-96 win for the San Miguel-backed squad’s 13th home win.
After the game, however, Balkman did not enter Alab’s locker room. He sat on one corner of the Filoil Flying V Centre’s dugout being checked by the medical staff in attendance.
Balkman could only get up after 40 minutes, before going to take a shower. According to the team’s doctors, the Puerto Rican import felt dizziness and headaches – signs of a concussion.
“It’s possible,” Alapag said when concerns of a concussion were raised.
“He took a pretty good shot to the head. We’re going to side with caution and we’ll see.”
With Alab up 18-4 in the standings, Alapag will not rule out sitting Balkman out when the reigning ABL champs take on the Formosa Dreamers in Taiwan on Sunday.
“Again, we’ll learn more tonight and see how he is. His status is up in the air just like Domingo.”
