MANILA – San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas squandered a double-digit lead before escaping with an 88-80 overtime win over CLS Knights of Indonesia in the 2018-2019 ASEAN Basketball League on Sunday at the GOR CLS in Surabaya, Indonesia.
Renaldo Balkman had another strong showing with double-double 36 points and 12 rebounds, while fellow Puerto Rican Peter John Ramos added 25 points and 11 boards for the Alab, which improved to 2-0.
Bobby Ray Parks Jr., who was selected as second overall pick by Blackwater Elite in the PBA Draft earlier Sunday, finished with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists for the defending champions.
After a slow start, the Alab had a strong run late in the opening period for a 19-11 advantage. It grew further to 31-18 in the second period but the Knights managed to cut it down at the half.
The Knights continued its run in the third period as it chopped down Alab’s advantage down to 57-55 before turning the match to a seesaw affair with the Philippines side hanging to a 75-73 lead.
The Indonesians managed to tie the score at 75-all with Wong Wei Long scoring a layup over the defense of Balkman and Ramos. The Knights even had a chance to win it but misfired their last attempt.
In the overtime period, Alab Pilipinas did not allow the Indonesians to pull off an upset with Balkman anchoring an 8-5 scoring run. Parks and Caelan Tiongson then put on the finishing touches for the Philippines.
Maxie Esho led the way with double-double 30 points and 12 rebounds, while Montay Brandon also had a double-double 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Knights, which dropped to 1-5./PN
