ABL semis: Patriots choke Dragons to lowest output

The Philippine Patriots displayed their best defensive game to hammer out a 77-43 victory over visiting Kuala Lumpur Dragons in Game One of the 1st ASEAN Basketball League semifinals Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City. Only one player in Filipino import Rudy Lingganay (10) finished in double digits for the Dragons as their output eclipsed the previous league low of 50 scored by the Brunei Barracudas in their 66-50 loss to the Patriots last Jan. 24.

In choking the visitors to the league's worst scoring output, the Patriots held the fire-less Dragons to just 29% shooting on a poor 17-of-59 conversion. They made just 13 of 41 attempts from the two-point field and connected on just five of eight free throws. “We knew our imports can cancel the outputs of their imports so our game plan was really to limit their locals. In the past three games that they won, it was the locals who stepped up and the players (Patriots) simply showed intensity on defense (today)," said Patriots coach Louie Alas. Game 2 in KL With a 1-0 lead in this short best-of-three series, the Patriots will gun for the clincher on February 3 at the MABA Gym in Malaysia. “That will be an entirely different ballgame because their crowd is very supportive of their team. We will leave tomorrow (Monday) for Malaysia to give our players ample time to rest and prepare and be more focused for Game Two. Dapat ilagay nila sa isipan na lahat ay kalaban sa Malaysia," Alas said. The Singapore Slingers also moved a win away from sealing a championship spot with an 87-68 win over Satria Muda BritAma of Indonesia in the other semifinals match held at Singapore Indoor Stadium. Gabe Freeman scored 15 points, nine in the first half, along with 11 rebounds for the Patriots while Jason Dixon added 13 markers and 13 boards with two assists, two steals and two blocks. The locals ably supported them with Jerwin Gaco pulling down 11 rebounds, Jaypee Alcaraz adding seven boards with a team-high six assists and Val Acuña coming off the bench to score 12 points in the final period. After a 2-all score, the Patriots unleashed a 14-0 run to take the game out of the Dragons’ reach. The Patriots played without let-up, extending the lead to 14 at halftime, 30-16, and 22 at the end of three quarters, 52-30. Overall, the Patriots completely dominated the Dragons as they had a 61-37 advantage off the boards, including a 30-12 edge in the offensive glass that was translated into an 18-9 advantage in second chance points. The visiting team was also forced to 19 turnovers that netted the home team 21 turnover points. What also hurt the Dragons’ chances was the early pullout of their imports Chris Kuete and Jamal Brown. Kuete and Brown went to the bench one after the other inside the final seven minutes of the third period with the Patriots up by 19, 37-18. “I was not really expecting that move. I think they think this is a loss ball game for them and are reserving their imports for Game Two which we have to be prepared for," said Alas. Kuete, who averaged 17.8 points, was held down to just four points with nine rebounds in 21 minutes of action while Brown contributed seven markers and four caroms in 23 minutes. - GMANews.TV