Source: Philippine Star
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Patriots battled back from eight points down in the third quarter and fashioned out a 75-69 victory over Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma to stretch its win run to five in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League Season 2 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City last Saturday.
Egay Billones, Benedict Fernandez and import Donald Little took over in the fourth quarter as the Patriots continued to buck the absence of Anthony Johnson to turn back the Indonesians.
The Patriots fell behind by eight points late in the third period, 51-59, but Billones, Fernandez and Little came through with clutch baskets, keying the hosts’ fightback.
The Patriots took the lead at 64-63 before Billones sparked another 6-1 run that pulled them away at 70-64, with only 51.5 seconds left in the contest.
Johnson failed to suit up again after he re-injured his hamstring during the team’s 54-48 win over the Chang Thailand Slammers last week. But the Patriots held their ground against the high-scoring Indonesian import in Marcus Morrison in a duel of last year’s finalists.
The win was the Patriots’ fifth straight as they firmed up their hold of the lead while dealing BritAma its fourth loss against a lone win in the six-nation tournament.
“We again played inconsistent, especially on defense. It seems that everyone wants to get the basketball and no one wants to go down on defense,” said Patriots coach Louie Alas.
Billones scored 10 points in the final period to finish with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting while Little made 11 points, 25 rebounds and two shot blocks.
Fernandez scored 12 points after making 4-of-7 from the field while adding three rebounds and four assists.
Source: RCJ, GMA News
-- Anthony Johnson returned with a bang, hitting clutch baskets down the stretch, to lift the Philippine Patriots past the Chang Thailand Slammers, 54-48, for the solo lead in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) Season 2.
Johnson, who missed the past two games due to a hamstring injury, knocked down 13 points, including eight in the final three minutes, as the Patriots notched their fourth straight win.
Trailing 42-43 with 3:36 left, Johnson buried a triple to spark a decisive 12-5 run that set the tone for the Patriots’ victory over the Thais, who suffered their first setback in four matches.
After Johnson’s triple, Egay Billones, the hero in the team’s 72-67 overtime win over the Brunei Barracudas last week, extended the margin to 47-43 with a jumper with under two minutes remaining.
The Thais moved to within two, 47-45, on Filipino Eric Canlas’ basket, but Johnson knocked in four consecutive points to quell their rivals’ comeback bid.
“Our defense was working as planned, but we just couldn’t convert our shots in the first three quarters," said Patriots coach Louie Alas. “But we strengthened our defense in the fourth quarter and our shots finally fell."
Johnson, who incurred his injury during their 71-62 win over the Brunei Barracudas three weeks ago, finished with 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting. He also added five rebounds in 30 minutes of action.
Donald Little, the Patriot’s other import, topscored with 14 points while adding seven rebounds, three assists and five blocks. Billones contributed 10 markers.
The Patriots struggled in the early goings, trailing by as many as eight points, but were able to charge back and tie it at 40-all on a triple by Warren Ybanez with six minutes to go.
Billones eventually put the Filipinos ahead for the first time by hitting a basket that made it 42-40 with 4:23 to go.
In the next play, former Patriot Froilan Baguion hit a trey to give the Thais their last taste of the lead at 43-42, with 4:02 left.
“The difference is that we practically shut them down in the fourth and we made the shots that we couldn’t make in the early goings," said Alas.
Jason Dixon, who like Baguion played against his former team for the first time, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in 37 minutes while Sopon Pinipatcharalert had 13 points, highlighted by three triples, in the Thais’ losing cause.
Source: ABS-CBN News
-- The Philippine Patriots asserted basketball supremacy in the Southeast Asian region after bagging the 1st ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) championship with a 3-0 sweep on Sunday.
The Patriots ended the best-of-five finals series against Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma, 75-67, at The BritAma Arena in Jakarta.
According to the ABL website, Jason Dixon led the Patriots with 28 points and 12 rebounds while Gabe Freeman made 17 points and 19 rebounds.
Patriots coach Louie Alas said it was defense that was crucial to his team’s triumph.
“The whole season we really emphasized on defense, especially this series,” he said in an article on The Philippine Star.
The Patriots kicked off the finals on February 12 by taking Game 1, 78-68, at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
They followed it up with another win, 72-53, at the Fil Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan City on February 17.
The ABL, meanwhile, is looking forward to its 2nd season after staging a successful inaugural season.
“We ‘re looking at adding more teams to the league and we are working closely with the South East Asian Basketball Association [in] making this league stronger in its second season that will start in October this year,” ABL CEO Kuhan Foo said.
The ABL was televised live across Southeast Asia and was streamed live online in North Asia, Europe and the United States.
Source: Philippine Star
-- The Philippine Patriots go for a sweep of the first-ever championship of the ASEAN Basketball League today against Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma here.
The opportunity to win the honor as the first champion team of the league looks big and enticing, after they took Game 1 (78-68) and Game 2 (72-53), but coach Louie Alas is not taking the mission easily.
Knowing the perils of playing before a hostile crowd, Alas is expecting nothing but a battle royale.
“It could be a bruising game,” said Alas.
No matter what the Indonesian club would do on the court, the Patriots, according to Alas, are all fired up for their 5 p.m. encounter.
“The hostile crowd is already a given factor,” said Alas. “Another thing is officiating. But if you think about it, nothing will happen to us here. Right now, we have a clear mindset. We have to focus on our game plan. If we allow ourselves to be distracted by those factors, then we have to stay here for few more days.”
Game 4 is scheduled on Wednesday also at the BritAma gym, and if necessary, Game 5 will be held on Sunday in Manila.
But don’t tell that to former PBA Best Import winner Gabe Freeman.
The 6-foot-5 Freeman, who sizzled for a tournament-high 39 points in Game 1, does not like the idea of staying here for three more days, saying: “I have to meet somebody in Manila, we have an important matter to discuss, so let’s go on and play hard on Sunday.”
If they can close the series today, it will give co-team owner Mikee Romero his eight straight championships, counting his record seven title run in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL)
“Winning the first championship is always sweet, so I hope we could bring home the crown,” Romero, who was expected to arrive here Saturday along with team manager Erick Arejola.
Business tycoon Tonyboy Cojuangco, Romero’s co-team owner, also challenged the Patriots to wage a war as if there’s no tomorrow since the country’s lofty status in the region is at stake in the series.
Just like Romero and Cojuangco, everybody in the team wants a piece of history.
“I decided to play for the Patriots because I want them to win the first championship of the league. If possible, I want to win it on Sunday,” said Freeman.
Again, Alas said defense holds the key to their success. Alas also expects that Indonesia’s import Alex Hartman and Nakiea Miller will attack the hoop at every opportunity in the hope of getting a foul from either Freeman or Jason Dixon.
Source: Joey Villar, Philippine Star
-- The Philippine Patriots rode on the strong performances of imports Gabe Freeman and Jason Dixon as they survived a stubborn Satria Muda Indonesia side, 78-68, to gain the headstart in their best-of-five title duel in the Asean Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City Friday night.
Freeman, a former import in the PBA, came away with a league-high 39 points on an impressive 16-of-28 shooting in a solid offensive game he spiked with 14 rebounds, two steals, one assist and a block.
The bull-strong Dixon, another former PBA reinforcement, was equally impressive as he nailed his 14th double-double performance in 15 games in this fledgling league, finishing with 13 points and 17 rebounds. He also made three assists, two steals and two shotblocks.
But defense, particularly in the second half, keyed the victory for the hosts.
“We were very inconsistent in our defense because we were relying so much on outscoring our opponent,” said Patriots coach Louie Alas. “It would have been easier had we played consistently – defensively.”
The Patriots hope to raise the level of their game on Wednesday when they gun for a 2-0 lead in the series, which shifts to The Arena in San Juan.
Game Three is set in Jakarta, Indonesia on Feb. 21 while Games 4 and 5, if necessary, are scheduled on Feb. 24 and 28, respectively.
“We will use our defense as our barometer in Game Two,” said Alas.
Alas also warned his locals not to rely too much on their explosive imports.
“The boys have a tendency of relying on our imports too much. Thankfully, Gabe and Jason kept on encouraging the locals,” said Alas.
Fil-Am and former pro Rob Wainright led the locals with nine points.
Satria Muda imports Nakeia Miller and Alex Hartman paced their team with 22 and 12 points, respectively, but the two just had no answer to the prolific Patriots’ imports’ offensive.
The Indonesians, however, refused to give up as they battled back from nine points down in the first half to wrest a 56-50 lead in the third quarter.
But Freeman took over, scoring almost at will, while the rest backed him up with a gritty defense that took the sting out of the Indonesians.
Source: Jonas Terrado, Manila Bulletin
-- Satria Muda BritAma believes it can beat the heavily-favored Philippine Patriots in their title showdown in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) which starts Friday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Team imports Nakiea Miller and Alex Hartman, who spearheaded the Jakarta-based squad's upset of the Singapore Slingers in last weekend's semifinal series, said the Patriots are in for a big surprise.
"I think SMB (BritAma) is going to win," Hartman told The Bulletin. "Will it be easy? No way, but I'm confident we can step up to the challenge. Every game will be close. But my prediction is us winning the series 3-1."
"We are confident, trust me," added Miller. "We lost our first game (against Singapore) by 20 and came back and won at home by 30-plus points. We won a hostile game in Singapore. Do you think we're ready?”
The Indonesians are heavy underdogs, considering how the Patriots have won all of their three matches during the elimination round. But roster changes by both squads might make this series a guessing game.
"Our expectation is to take it one game at a time. We really want to steal a game in the Philippines to switch the home court advantage in our favor. It is no easy task since we never beat them this season,” said Hartman.
"But we also never played them with the full roster we have now. They have a different roster and we are playing the best basketball as a team right now. The season is almost over, now it’s just who wants it more. And we are hungry," said Hartman.
The 6-foot-6 Hartman, who averaged 18.2 points this season, expects a tough match-up with the high-leaping Gabe Freeman.
"It will be tough because he is athletic and is very aggressive. So I will have my hands full," he said. "I understand he rebounds hard. But I'm very confident in my defense. I always guard the other team's best athlete and I look at this no different."
Miller on the other hand, will play toe-to-toe with 6-foot-10 Jason Dixon in what will be expected to be a bruising battle inside. The lanky big man is also expecting a hostile crowd like he experienced in Singapore, when the war of words spilled into the league's official Facebook page.
Source: ABS-CBN News
-- The Philippine Patriots made their way into the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) finals after sweeping their best-of-three playoff series against Malaysia’s KL Dragons.
According to the ABL website, the Patriots trounced the Dragons, 70-65, at the MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
They overcame the Dragons, 77-43, in Game 1 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City last Sunday.
Jason Dixon and Gabe Freeman duplicated their double-double outputs in Game 2. Dixon made 22 points and 11 rebounds while Freeman scored 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Patriots will face the Singapore Slingers or Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma, who are tied at 1-1 in the other playoffs. Game 3 will be on Sunday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The Indonesian squad evened the series with a 74-45 victory in their home court, the BritAma Arena in Jakarta. The Slingers gained the upper hand in the playoffs when they won last Sunday, 87-68.
The best-of-five ABL Grand Finals series is scheduled to begin on February 12.
Source: Asean Basketball League
-- Today marked the third meeting between the Philippine Patriots and the Brunei Barracudas, with the match taking place at the Ynares Sports Arena, Manila Philippines. This was a crucial match for the Barracudas who needed a win here to secure a spot in the playoffs.
Their first meeting was at the Brunei Indoor Stadium on 13 December, where the weakened Philippine Patriots who were missing two of their star players feel to the Barracudas 70 – 95. But the Patriots soon had their revenge on 21 December when the teams met at the Ynares Sports Arena, and the Patriots emerge winners with a score of 70 – 56 against the Barracudas.
Today, the Patriots fielded a starting lineup of Jason Dixon, Erwin Sta Maria, Gabriel Freeman, Jerwin Gaco and Warren Ybanez to go up against Barracudas’ Francis Adriano, Celedon Camaso, Simon Conn, Leonidaz Avenido and Reggie Larry.
The Patriots won the jumpball against the Barracudas and quickly opened scoring to take an early lead, and with 7 minutes left to the first quarter, the Patriots were leading 10 - 5. The Barracudas quickly equalized and with 3:50 left to the quarter, they overtook the Patriots and ended the quarter 18 – 17.
In the second quarter the Patriots turned the tables on the Barracudas and continued to widen the gap and with 6:28 left the Patriots were holding a 6 point lead. The Barracudas fought back, but it was not enough, as the Patriots continued to dominate the match and ended the quarter 43 – 35 against the Barracudas.
After half time, the Patriots upped their defense and went all out, only allowing the Barracudas to score 9 points in the third quarter. The Patriots finished the quarter with a 19 point lead, ending 63 – 44 against the Barracudas.
The Patriots continued their lead in the fourth quarter, never giving the Barracudas a chance to catch up, and at the final buzzer, the Patriots emerge winners with a score of 87 – 65 against the Barracudas.
Today’s loss takes the Barracudas out of the playoffs, with the final four teams consisting of the Philippine Patriots, Singapore Slingers, Satria Muda BritAma and KL Dragons.
