ABL: Patriots celebrate return home with win over Slammers

Wednesday's game AirAsia Philippines' full-court defense kicked into full gear in the third quarter as the Patriots steamrolled past the visiting Chang Thailand Slammers, 89-68, Saturday to remain as the pacesetters in the 3rd ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). The Patriots used a 10-0 run at the start of the third to grab the advantage after the Slammers took a slim 33-32 halftime lead in their first home game at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City after playing four straight matches on the road. Patriots coach Glenn Capacio said that the defense they executed at the start of the third period was the story of the game. "We were sluggish in the first half but they responded in the second half." "(We) executed our press well and luckily, they (Thailand) couldn’t adjust to our defense. We went to our full-court press and luckily they didn’t make any adjustments. If we play good defense, we can do a lot on offense," said Capacio. The Patriots notched their 12th win of the season, and fifth straight, against two losses. The Slammers dropped to 5-10 with the loss. Import Anthony Johnson once again led the Patriots in scoring pumping in 23 points to go with his five rebounds, six assists and two steals. Nakiea Miller, the Patriots' other reinforcement, manned the paint and produced 17 markers and 15 rebounds. Francis Adriano had eight points, while reserves Eder Saldua had seven and Eddie Laure added six but their contributions were felt during Patriots' second-half break away. Saldua and Laure had six points each in that third-quarter scoring blitz while Adriano started off a 6-0 run to begin the fourth for a 67-52 Patriots lead. Calvin Williams tallied 27 points and 20 rebounds while Christopher Garnett, who was slapped with a technical foul after a physical play with Laure in the third, added 15 markers Williams and Saldua also had a confrontation near the end of the game which led to technical fouls. — JVP, GMA News