MANILA – San Miguel Alab Pilipinas barged to the semifinals of the 2018 ASEAN Basketball League with a 96-85 win over Saigon Heat in Game 2 of the best-of-three quarterfinals at the CIS Arena in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Renaldo Balkman and Lawrence Domingo led the Philippines with 21 points apiece while Justin Brownlee had double-double 18 points and 13 rebounds on Saturday night.
Negrense Pao Javelona had another solid game with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists while reigning MVP Bobby Ray Parks Jr. struggled with just 10 markers for Alab.
After sweeping the series, Alab will advance to the best-of-three semifinals series against defending champion Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions, led by Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger, starting Wednesday.
Playing at home, Heat had an aggressive start and kept in step with Alab in the first two quarters. The game was tied 40-all when Domingo and Brownlee came up with baskets for a 46-42 halftime lead.
Alab continued to widen the advantage early in the third period with baskets from Brownlee and Balkman for a 64-52 lead, which rose to as high as 87-72 on back-to-back hits from Domingo.
Heat looked to stage another rally as it closed in 81-89 with 1:44 left in the match but Balkman’s layup and Domingo’s 3-point play increased Alab’s lead 94-81 with one minute remaining.
Akeem Scott top-scored with 22 points, Maxie Esho had 20 markers, while Moses Morgan and David Viet Arnold had 17 and 14 points, respectively, for Heat./PN
