MANILA – John Amores had a triumphant basketball comeback as Zamboanga Valientes cruised to a 108-94 beating of Louvre Surabaya in the Singapore Circuit of the 2023 ASEAN Basketball League Invitational on Tuesday at the OCBC Arena in Singapore.
Amores, who got a new lease on life after his punching incident in the NCAA last November, tallied 16 points, including two three-point conversions, to go with five rebounds and two steals for the Philippine representatives.
The former Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers power forward served as a huge spark off the bench for Zamboanga as they kicked off their international campaign on a winning note.
But it was Antonio Hester who came alive for the Philippine squad in the fourth period as he anchored a massive 15-2 scoring blast that turned an 87-83 deficit to a 98-89 spread with three minutes left.
Hester, who played as import for Terrafirma Dyip in the PBA before, led the Valientes with 35 points, with 16 coming in the fourth quarter, to go with 11 rebounds, four steals, and three assists.
Fil-Am forward Jeremy Arthur chipped in 21 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals, while American import Ryan Smith had a solid double-double of 18 points and16 rebounds for the Valientes.
Zamboanga notched the season-opener win despite missing the services of San Beda University Red Lions guard James Kwekuteye, who was in street clothes due to unspecified injury.
Marcus Hammonds top-scored with 32 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals, Alioune Tew had a monster double-double effort of 24 points and 22 rebounds for Surabaya.
Filipino-Indonesian Biboy Enguio wound up with 14 points but committed six turnovers for Surabaya, which went up by as much as nine points in the early minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Valientes will aim for their second consecutive victory as they battle Saigon Heat of Vietnam at the same venue on Friday night./PN
