SAN Miguel Alab Pilipinas and Mono Vampire of Thailand continue their titanic battle in the ASEAN Basketball League Finals on Wednesday, airing live from the Sta. Rosa Multi-purpose Complex at Sta. Rosa, Laguna at 8 p.m. on ABS-CBN S+A, S+A HD, and via livestream on sports.abs-cbn.com.
Game 2 will be full of fireworks as Mono Vampire tries to even the series after falling to Alab, which staged a furious comeback in a thrilling Game 1 that went into the extra period, 143-130.
World imports Justin Brownlee and Renaldo Balkman once again took the cudgels late for the Philippine franchise, pumping in a combined 18 points in overtime to power Alab to its maiden win in the ABL Finals. Down two in regulation, 119-121, Brownlee, who had an ABL Finals record 46 points, intentionally muffed his second free throw to get the rebound and lay in a tying basket. He also missed but thankfully, the Puerto Rican, who tallied 39 points, was there to clean it up with 1.3 seconds to go to force OT.
“I just knew that if we’re going into overtime, it’s gonna be over,” Balkman said after the game.
Aside from Brownlee and Balkman, Alab also drew strong games from reigning ABL MVP Bobby Ray Parks and reserve Lo Domingo, who dropped 27 and 14 points respectively.
Coach Jimmy Alapag however stressed that Alab needs to be the ones setting the pace instead of the run-n-gun Mono Vampire squad come Game 2. “As a team, we just have to be much better defensively. Giving up 143 points won’t win us this series and I am confident we will be much better,” Alapag said in his post-game interview.
The Thai team leaned heavily on Mike Singletary, Filipino gunner Paul Zamar, and the towering Samuel Deguara who pumped in 42, 25, and 21 points respectively. Vampire was ahead with 19 ticks left in the clock but collapsed under the clutch assault of Justin Brownlee and Renaldo Balkman.
Action shifts to Thailand for Games 3 and 4, with the fifth and deciding game to be fought back on Philippine soil, if necessary.
Don’t miss Game 2 of the ABL Finals between San Miguel Alab Pilipinas and Thai squad Mono Vampire this Wednesday (April 25) on ABS-CBN S+A and S+A HD LIVE at 8 pm at the Sta. Rosa Multi-purpose Complex in Sta. Rosa Laguna with livestreaming on sports.abs-cbn.com. For more information and stories, visit ABS-CBN’s sports hub sports.abs-cbn.com and follow @ABSCBNSports on Facebook and Twitter.
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