MANILA – San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas stretched its winning run in the 2018 ASEAN Basketball League after taking down Macau’s Zhuhai Wolf Warriors, 105-95, on Sunday night at the Hoopsdome in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
Renaldo Balkman led the way with 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Filipino-American Ethan Alvano sizzled with 21 markers for the defending champions.
Joshua Urbiztondo tallied 19 markers, including six three-point conversions, while Bobby Ray Parks Jr. chipped in 12 markers for the Alab Pilipinas, which improved to 5-0 win-loss slate.
Holding to a slim 25-22 lead at the end of the first period, Alab Pilipinas created distance from Wolf Warriors in the second period with Urbiztondo unloading 10 points for a 59-42 halftime advantage.
The Philippines continued its domination in the second half with Balkman, Alvano and Paolo Javelona conniving on offense for its largest lead at 86-60 on a conversion by Lawrence Domingo.
With head coach Jimmy Alapag opting to go with his reserve players in the fourth period, the visiting Wolf Warriors was able to come to as close as 10 markers but was not enough to turn things around.
Chen Cai and Mike Bell led the way with 20 points apiece, while Mike Taylor added 19 points for the Wolf Warriors, which dropped to last place in the standings with 1-9 win-loss card.
Eddy Curry, who previously played for New York Knicks in the NBA, tallied 14 points and eight rebounds for the Macau-based team./PN
