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The Kuala Lumpur Dragons erased bitter memories of two losses to the Philippine Patriots with a 77-59 rout in Saturday’s 1st ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) at the MABA Gym, Malaysia. The Dragons played minus import Chris Kuete, who was ejected with 6:12 in the second period, but managed to cushion his loss with steady plays from Filipino reinforcements Rudy Lingganay and Roel Hugnatan as well as American Jamal Brown.
"We shot the ball well and played very good defense. Today, the players did what we had to do for us to win," said Dragons coach Cheng Huat Goh, whose team improved to 5-7 to keep their hopes of a semis seat alive. Kuete, who was sitting on the bench, was thrown out of the game when he entered the playing court after an altercation between Patriots’ Dino Daa and Dragons Yoong Jing-kwaan. The Dragons opened with a 21-10 lead early in the opening quarter and settled for a 44-32 halftime spread. But the Patriots slowly got their groove with Jason Dixon scoring from inside while Val Acuna and Rob Wainwright hitting their long-range bombs, the visiting team tied the count at 51-all. Fhadzmir Bandaying, who also is a Filipino import for the Dragons, split his free throws to keep the host team ahead after three quarters. Lingganay toyed with his defenders to finish with a team high 14 points while Hugnatan and Brown chipped in 13 apiece and combined for 19 rebounds. The Patriots of coach Louie Alas also shot poorly from the field, 17-of-66 for a 26 percent clip. “We were out of sync because of the layoff during the holidays. But I believe we will recover and our drive for the title remains strong. Second place in this campaign is not our option." Dixon had another double-double finish with 19 points and 14 rebounds but the Patriots’ other import Brandon Powell only scored five behind a 2-of-12 shooting. Powell is expected to be replaced to strengthen the Patriots’ chances of topping the six-nation tournament.
The defeat was the second in back-to-back road games for the Patriots for a 9-4 card. The possibility of a two-way tie looms between the Patriots and Singapore Slingers (7-4) and should that happens, the latter will go on and claim the number one spot and the home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Thailand Tigers will be the Patriots’ next game on Jan. 17 at the Nimibutr Stadium. – GMANews.TV
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