i TV Pinoy

Source: gmanews.tv

-- The Philippine Patriots banked on the defensive muscle of Nonoy Baclao and a clutch three-point shot from Warren Ybañez down the stretch to repeat over the Kuala Lumpur Dragons, 76-70, in the 1st ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

After missing the team’s shocking 95-70 loss to the Brunei Barracudas last Sunday due to his commitment with Ateneo, the 6-foot-4 Baclao made his presence felt by helping the Patriots scuttle the Dragons’ offensive thrice before hitting a side jumper that gave them a 66-63 breather.

The Dragons threatened the last time at 66-68 but Ybañez – after missing his first three tries – buried a huge triple which turned out to be the push they needed to finally disarm the Dragons.

True enough, the Dragons disintegrated, bungling their next two offensive plays that enabled the Patriots to seal the win and ease the pain caused by their devastating setback to the Barracudas.

“We failed to execute our plays, but in the end, we got huge breaks," said the RP Patriots coach Louie Alas. “Nonoy provided the intangibles again while our two imports also delivered."

Brandon Powell atoned from a disappointing three-point performance the last time by drilling in 20 markers, most of them in the first half that prevented the Dragons from pulling away. He finished 3-of-5 from the three-point area aside from posting three rebounds and two assists.

Jason Dixon had 15 points and the same number of rebounds for his sixth straight double-double performance.

Baclao, who helped Ateneo win the Philippine Collegiate Champions League by beating Far Eastern University, had eight points, three rebounds and two blocks.

With the win, the Patriots improved to 8-2. They just need to win three of their remaining five games to clinch the No. 1 seeding in the semis.