MANILA – Justin Brownlee and Renaldo Balkman took turns in overtime as San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas scored a 143-130 win over Mono Vampire of Thailand in Game 1 of the ASEAN Basketball League finals on Sunday at the Santa Rosa Multipurpose Complex in Laguna.
Thailand’s 7-foot-5 center Samuel Deguara fouled out in the fourth quarter, and Brownlee and Balkman took advantage of Vampire’s undersized lineup in the extension to book the first win in the best-of-three finale.
Alab surged to an 8-0 start in overtime on hits by Balkman, Brownlee and Lawrence Domingo for a 129-121 lead. This grew further to as high as 13 points on a thunderous slam by Balkman.
Brownlee finished with ABL-record tying 46 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists while Balkman chipped in double-double 39 points and 15 rebounds.
Alab seemed headed to a defeat after losing a 12-point fourth quarter lead and was down 116-120 with 19 seconds left but Brownlee pulled the Philippine squad to within one on a key triple.
Vampire’s Michael Singletary increased the lead to 121-119 on a free throw before Brownlee misfired his two free throws, but Balkman got the offensive board and scored a basket to force an overtime at 121-all.
“In all my years of being involved in professional basketball, I’ve never seen and never been part of a game like this,” said Alab head coach Jimmy Alapag. “I was amazed with the offensive showing we put on in a 45-minute game. I’m proud of our guys.”
Singletary led the way with 42 points, Filipino import Paul Zamar had 25 markers, while Deguara finished with double-double 21 points and 11 rebounds for Vampire, which hopes to bounce back in Game 2 on Wednesday./PN
