Zamboanga Valientes waste 15-point lead in loss vs Al Sharjah to open Dubai run

The Zamboanga Valientes went off early but could not sustain the momentum as the Philippine squad bowed to Al Sharjah Club, 97-82, to open their campaign in the 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship on Saturday in Dubai, UAE. 

Zamboanga built a 15-point lead late in the first period but failed to protect it to go 0-1 in the team standings while fellow Filipino team Strong Group Athletics cruised to a 2-0 start. 

An Adonis Thomas basket sent Zamboanga to a 30-15 first quarter advantage, but Al Sharjah responded with a 12-0 run before former PBA import DeQuan Jones had Al Sharjad tied things up at 32-all early in the second frame. 

Al Sharjah closed out the first half holding on to a slim 49-47 cushion, thanks to back-to-back triples from Mohamed Asad and Hamad Thani. 

It momentarily became a close contest with UST guard Forthsky Padrigao hitting a triple that allowed them to trim the gap to just five, 70-75, midway to the fourth period. 

But Al Sharjah turned to Jones and Nicholas West in unloading a wild 16-0 rampage to create a 91-70 separation and take the fight out of the Philippine team with still 3:52 left in the game. 

Despite the loss, Zamboanga had a balanced scoring with 7-foot-6 Samuel Deguara finishing with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds while Mike Tolomia had 14. Thomas and Padrigao both tallied 13 markers as Prince Caperal chipped in 11 in the loss. 

West and Jones formed an unstoppable duo with the former erupting for 30 points alongside nine rebounds while the ex-NLEX reinforcement churned out 29 markers, six boards, two assists, and one steal. 

Zamboanga will look to bounce back and enter the win column when it tackles Al Ahli Tripoli on Sunday night. 

—JKC, GMA Integrated News