MANILA – San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas survived the offensive outburst of Filipino-American Mikh McKinney to score a 101-96 win over Macau Black Bears in the 2019 ASEAN Basketball League at the San Juan Arena.
Peter John Ramos led the way with double-double 29 points and 13 rebounds on Friday night.
Renaldo Balkman added 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for Alab Pilipinas, which remained on top with 18-4 win-loss slate.
Bobby Ray Parks Jr. also came to life with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists.
With the win, the Philippine-based squad preserved its immaculate 12-0 win-loss record at home.
Down by as much as 11 points early in the second period, Alab Pilipinas leaned on the trio of Balkman, Ramos and Parks to chop down the Black Bears’ advantage heading into the break.
Midway in the third quarter, the Black Bears were still ahead at 73-63 before the Alab Pilipinas unloaded a huge 16-4 scoring run behind Joshua Urbiztondo and Pao Javelona to take a 78-76 lead.
Alab Pilipinas gained control of the match in the fourth behind Balkman, Ramos and Parks for a 95-86 lead. McKinney kept the game close but free throws by Balkman and Ramos sealed the win for the Philippine squad.
McKinney led the way with 50 points, including seven triples, while Ryan Watkins added double-double 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Black Bears, which dropped to 12-10 win-loss slate.
“Mikh McKinney is just incredible,” said Alab Pilipinas head coach Jimmy Alapag. “I just told my players not to get discouraged on defense, keep on challenging his shots.”/PN
