There are over 175,000 Filipinos living in Singapore. And now that Alab Pilipians is out of the tournament, Josh Urbiztondo, the Singapore Slingers’ ASEAN Heritage import, wants each and every one of them to support the Slingers in its campaign for that elusive ASEAN Basketball League crown.
It was a bittersweet moment for Josh Urbiztondo last Friday after the Slingers eliminated Alab. On one hand, he just made another finals after four long years while on the other, it came at the expense of a Philippine team.
The Filipino-American gunslinger led the Slinger during the game, dropping 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting while grabbing five rebounds, dishing out six assists, and tallying two steals. It was a performance that drew cheers from the partisan Bulacan crowd.
“And it’s truly a humbling experience and a blessing that I’m able to go back to the Finals, and I’m just gonna fight out there,” said the 34-year-old, who is averaging 8.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists since making his Singapore debut last March 2.
And he hopes that the Filipinos in Singapore support them when they take on the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions in the best-of-five finals starting Friday, April 14 in Hong Kong.
“I’m fighting not only for me, I’m fighting for all the Filipinos — even though we just beat them — and all the fans, my family, and all the fans behind me,” the cager born in San Francisco, California shared.
“I’m just leaving it out there for them.”
Come Game Three, he expects the Overseas Filipino Workers in Singapore to fill-up the OCBC Arena to support them in the final stage of this five-month long journey.
“We have a lot of Filipinos in Singapore, so hopefully we have a great crowd and they come support us since Alab’s no longer in the run,” he hopes.
