ABL: Indonesia Warriors force do-or-die game versus SMB

The Indonesia Warriors refused to go quietly into the night, forcing a game three for the Asean Basketball League championship with a dominant 81-61 win over the San Miguel Beermen, Saturday in Mahaka Square, Indonesia The Warriors came out to a solid 12-6 start, three minutes gone by in the first quarter, but San Miguel stormed back to take the lead, 13-12, two minutes later, though the tug-of-war between both teams ended after the first quarter with Indonesia up by a point, 24-23. Indonesia extended their lead to 32-23 in the second period, but the Beermen big men were ready to strike back, with Nick Fazekas and Junemar Fajardo scoring five straight to reduce the deficit to just four. In response, the Warriors unloaded an 8-0 run that included two huge treys to make it 40-28, 3:45 left, drawing a timeout from San Miguel head coach Bobby Ray Parks. Off the break, a buzzer-beating triple by reserve shooter Benedict Fernandez ate into the lead, and helped the Filipino team trail by just single-digits at the break, 42-33. San Miguel continued to try to overtake their opponents come the third, but their efforts were thwarted by one of their own players, when Roger Yap was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul, throwing an elbow at Jerick Canada. After the former Adamson Falcon nailed his two charities, his teammate Stanley Pringle nailed a turn-around shot over Yap, ballooning Indonesia's lead to 56-41. Warriors import Steven Thomas made it a 20-point game with 51 seconds left in the third, on a hoop and the harm, forcing yet another ceasefire from Parks. When they returned, Thomas still canned the charity, to make it 64-43. The Beermen got it down to 64-49 entering the fourth quarter, but could not make further headway, and the remainder of the fourth quarter was essentially just the Warriors playing keep-away until the final buzzer. Evan Brock produced a game-high 26 points, to go with his 16 rebounds, and three assists. Fil-Am point guard Stanley Pringle added 13 markers and five dimes, while Thomas chipped in a double-double of his own, 12 points and 10 boards. Foul troubled hampered Duke Crews, though he managed 16 points. Leo Avenido added 13 on 50 percent shooting, but they got precious little else, as even super-import Nick Fazekas managed a mere 10 points, far off his average. Indonesia locked down the Beermen, allowing them to make just 39 percent of their attempts from the field while converting 48 percent on their end of the court. They also dominated the boards 37-21, which led to 13 second-chance points. The deciding game three will be held next Saturday, June 30, back in the Philippines at the Ynares Sports Arena. - GMA News The scores: IND 81 - Brock 26, Pringle 13, Thomas 12, Canada 9, Wisnu 7, Wusyang 4, Prihantono 3, Gunawan 3, Wibawa 2, Salangsang 2, Ristanto 0, Sitepu 0 SMB 61 - Crew 16, Avenido 13, Fazekas 10, Yap 8, Banchero 6, Fernandez 5, Fajardo 3, Luanzon 0, Baguion 0, Ferriols 0, Gonzales 0, Dimaunahan 0 Quarter scoring: 24-23, 42-33, 64-49, 81-61