MANILA – San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas continued its strong start in the 2018-2019 ASEAN Basketball League after a 77-71 win over Singapore Slingers on Sunday night at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
Peter John Ramos led the way with double-double 26 points, 17 rebounds and five assists, while fellow Puerto Rican import Renaldo Balkman added 20 points and 16 markers for Alab.
Back-to-back Local MVP Bobby Ray Parks Jr. finished with 18 points, six rebounds, three steals, two assists, and a block for the defending champions, which ended the year with perfect 4-0 win-loss slate.
Holding to a slim 22-18 lead at the end of the first period, Alab Pilipinas slowly pulled away behind the trio of Ramos, Balkman and Parks to stretch its advantage to 63-51 at the half.
Alab Pilipinas surged to its largest lead at 18 points early in the third quarter before the Slingers cut the deficit to 55-62. The Philippine, however, managed to increase the lead back to 11 points early in the fourth.
The Slingers did not went home without a fight as it chopped down Alab Pilipinas’ deficit to 71-75 but the Philippines squad sealed the victory after two free throw conversions from Parks.
John Fields, who once played for Columbian Dyip in the PBA, top-scored with 35 points for the Slingers, which suffered its second straight loss after a strong start to drop to 5-3 card./PN
