Alab Pilipinas faces HK Eastern anew today
Credit to Author: JEREMIAH M. SEVILLA| Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2019 16:34:36 +0000
Defending champion San Miguel Alab Pilipinas fights for life as it tries to tie the quarterfinal series against Hong Kong Eastern Sports Club in Season 9 Asean Basketball League (ABL) tonight at the Southorn Stadium in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
The second seed Alab Pilipinas and the seventh seed Hong Kong Eastern will face off anew in Game Two of the best-of-three quarterfinals at 8 p.m.
Alab nearly lost the title after suffering an 88-90 defeat to Eastern in Game One on Friday night at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
The Filipino ball club wasted away a 15-point lead early in the third quarter of the series opener, resulting in a virtual twice-to-win disadvantage.
Alab and Eastern are knotted at 1-1, with the former winning the first game, 87-75, and the latter the second, 88-83.
Head coach Jimmy Alapag will be counting on Puerto Rican import Renaldo Balkman, who tallied 30 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in the previous outing.
Balkman’s 7-foot-4 countryman PJ Ramos is tabbed to dominate the paint while two-time Local MVP Ray Parks Jr., who muffed a game-tying jumper, is expected to step up for Alab.
The Long Lions, however, are keen for revenge against Alab who swept them last season.
Spanish mentor Edu Torres will count on American reinforcements O’Darien Bassett, Marcus Elliott and Michael Holyfield.
Bassett had a 29-point, seven-assist, four-board output while Elliott and Holyfield contributed 22 and 14 markers, respectively, in Game One.
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