MANILA – Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions pushed San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas closer to eliminations following a 90-88 upset in Game 1 of the 2019 ASEAN Basketball League best-of-three quarterfinals on Friday at the Hoops Dome in Lapu Lapu City, Cebu.
The defending champions Alab Pilipinas are now in a must-win situation heading into Game 2 on Wednesday at the Long Lions’ turf if its hopes to keep its title-retention bid alive.
After losing its last four matches, the Alab Pilipinas looked good early in the game and went up by as much as 15 points but the Long Lions came up with a strong run to come to within 63-66.
Both teams exchanged leads in the fourth quarter until the Long Lions surged to a 90-86 advantage with under a minute left. Alab Pilipinas cut the deficit to 88-90 on an inside hit by Renaldo Balkman from a bullet pass by Peter John Ramos.
In the next sequence, the Long Lions turned the ball over giving the Philippines side a chance to win it or force an overtime but Bobby Ray Parks Jr. failed to have a decent attempt in the final 13 seconds.
O’Darien Bassett, who drained the go-ahead basket with 29.6 seconds left, had 29 points, seven assists, four rebounds, while Marcus Elliott and Michael Holyfield had 22 and 14 markers, respectively, for the Long Lions.
Balkman finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists while fellow Puerto Rican reinforcement Ramos tallied 17 points and seven rebounds for the skidding Alab Pilipinas./PN
