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[av_heading heading=’Balkman’s game winner powers Alab to 6th win’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’18’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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February 9, 2018
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MANILA – Renaldo Balkman converted the go-ahead basket as San Miguel Beer – Alab Pilipinas escaped with an 86-84 win over Mono Vampire of Thailand in the 2017-2018 ASEAN Basketball League at the Baliwag Star Arena in Bulacan.
With both teams knotted at 84 apiece on Wednesday night, Balkman drained an inside basket from a bounce pass by Justin Brownlee with 3.8 seconds left.
Brownlee completed Alab’s triumph with a block on the three-point attempt of Vampire’s import Michael Singletary.
Balkman finished with 31 points, 13 rebounds and 5 steals, while Brownlee had near triple-double 16 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists for Alab.
The win was Alab’s sixth straight to improve to 9-4 win-loss card.
Alab were up by as much as 13 points in the third period but Vampire went on a huge run in the fourth quarter to snatch the lead at 77-75. Balkman and Brownlee quickly responded to give the lead back to Alab at 84-79.
The Vampires, however, countered with baskets from Jason Brickman and Singletary to tie the count at 84-all with 19 seconds to go before Balkman converted the game-winning basket.
“The great thing about the ABL is you really feel the home and away. It’s a challenge but it’s also a great opportunity for the teams to build chemistry and camaraderie,” said Alab head coach Jimmy Alapag.
Samuel Deguara led the way with double-double 21 points and 15 rebounds, while Singletary and Filipino import Paul Zamar had 19 and 12 points, respectively, for Vampires, which slid down to 9-5./PN
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