MANILA – San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas kept its unbeaten run at home following a 106-99 win over Macau Black Bears in the 2019 ASEAN Basketball League on Friday night at San Juan Arena.
Renaldo Balkman had a game-long brilliance with 37 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists for the defending champions, which remained on top of the standings with 7-2 card.
Peter John Ramos had double-double 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Bobby Ray Parks Jr. and Lawrence Domingo had 13 points each for the Alab, which bounced back from a 72-73 loss to Formosa Dreamers of Thailand last Sunday.
Both teams went toe-to-toe in the opening half with the Black Bears clinging to a 48-47 halftime lead before the Philippine team went on a third quarter run behind Balkman, Ramos and Pao Javelona for an 82-73 lead.
The Black Bears, however, was able to erase the deficit and come to as close as two points with over six minutes left but Balkman and Ramos spearheaded another run to make it a double digit lead.
Alab’s lead will reach its largest at 106-91 late in the game following conversions from Parks, Ethan Alvano, and Caelan Tiongson before the Black Bears made a late run but could only come to as close as 99-106.
Ryan Watkins led the way with 24 points, while Anthony Tucker had 22 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds for the Black Bears, which slid down in the standings with 6-5 slate./PN
