Sixteen days have passed since San Miguel Alab Pilipinas absorbed their first loss of the season at the hands of the Westsports Malaysia Dragons.
Clearly, the defending champions have not forgotten.
Friday evening, PJ Ramos led Alab’s demolition squad. The Philippine-side blew the Dragons out of the Sta. Rosa Multi Purpose Sports Complex, 85-47.
This is Alab’s third straight win, keeping their solo lead in the ABL standings with a 9-2 record. On the other hand, Westsports fell to 5-6.
Ramos – who had 16 points and 11 rebounds in Alab’s 71-72 loss at the MABA Stadium last January 9 – powered his squad with 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting, to go along with 11 rebounds and two blocks. The 7-foot-3 Puerto Rican only needed 21 minutes to produce that tally.
It was Ramos who broke the game wide open, scoring 13 points of Alab’s first 21 points in the quarter to give his team an insurmountable 58-24 lead.
Alab would continue to pour it on the Dragons until the final buzzer sounded.
Renaldo Balkman had a short night, playing just 25 minutes. He produced 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Pao Javelona led the bench mob with 11 markers.
Reigning, two-time Local MVP Bobby Ray Parks Jr. did not play in the game.
Alab also made a statement on the defensive end as well.
Besides limiting the Dragons to just a horrid 22-percent shooting, Alab zoned in on Jonathan Wong. Wong, who dropped 21 points during their first encounter – including the game-winner – went just 2-of-9 from the field for five points.
Winston Shepard had 12 points for Westsports, but went just 4-of-21 from the field.
Alab will have just two days off before taking on Hong Kong Eastern at the same venue.
The Scores:
San Miguel Alab 85 – Ramos 25, Balkman 13, Javelona 11, Alvano 8, Rosser 8, Domingo 6, Tiongson 4, Torres 4, Alabanza 4, Rivero 2, Urbiztondo 0, Sumalinog 0
Westsports Malaysia 47 – Shepard 12, Eversley 10, Egwu 8, Yek 6, Wong 5, Loh 2, Tan 2, Chiang 2, CChin 0, Chan 0, Z Chin 0
Quarterscores: 21-13, 37-20, 67-38, 85-47
