MANILA – San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas started its title-retention bid in style as it walloped Indonesia’s CLS Knights 94-67 in the 2018-2019 ASEAN Basketball League on Sunday night at the Santa Rosa Multipurpose Complex in Laguna.
Renaldo Balkman had an all-around performance of 33 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three steals, and three blocks, while Peter John Ramos added 20 markers and 13 boards for Alab.
Each team was allowed to tap three foreign reinforcements but Alab opened its campaign with just two – Balkman and Ramos – as the Philippines still awaits the possible return of Justin Brownlee.
Back-to-back Most Valuable Player from the locals, Bobby Ray Parks Jr., also contributed 10 markers in his few remaining matches with the defending ABL champion before moving to the PBA early next year.
As if they were not coming off a long layoff, the Philippines’ players immediately made their presence felt behind the Puerto Rican tandem of Balkman and Ramos for a 23-14 advantage.
Domination continued in the second period with Alab enjoying a 46-27 lead by halftime.
The Philippines widened this further in the second half to reach their biggest lead in the game 94-63 behind shots from Brandon Rosser, Ethan Alvano and Caelan Tiongson.
“I am pleased with the effort, especially defensively. CLS is a team that can score in bunches but right from the start we were able to establish ourselves defensively,” said Alab head coach Jimmy Alapag.
Maxie Esho led the way with 20 points and eight rebounds while Stephen Hurt added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Knights (1-4)./PN
