Sports

Alab Pilipinas bags ABL championship

They say that it’s not how you start but how you finish.

The sentiment rings true to San Miguel Alab Pilipinas which started the ASEAN Basketball League season at the bottom of the standings. Their 0-3 record at the start of the season, however, didn’t stop them from winning it all.

With a 102-92 win against Mono Vampire Basketball Club, San Miguel Alab Pilipinas clinched the ABL title in front of almost 6,000 fans in the City of Santa Rosa Multipurpose Complex in Laguna City, Philippines.

The team was led in game 5 by Co-Defensive Player of the Year Renaldo Balkman with a 32-point, 9-rebound, and 6-assist stat line. Teammate Justin Brownlee was also instrumental in the victory, flirting with a triple-double with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists.

The first quarter was a defensive clinic for San Miguel Alab Pilipinas, limiting Mono Vampire to just 14 points. However, they were quick to recover in the second quarter, exploding to 31 points. Mono Vampire was led by import Mike Singletary and Sam Deguara combining for 24 points at the end of the half. They trailed 54-45 after the first two quarters.

The hometown team led by Head Coach Jimmy Alapag came out firing in the third quarter, turning a single-digit lead into double digits, ending the period at 82-61. Their 25-10 run put the game out of reach for Mono Vampire.

In the final quarter, Mono Vampire failed to mount a comeback, with Renaldo Balkman’s running floater over Deguara serving as an exclamation point, pushing the lead back to 15 points.

When the buzzer sounded, Alab Pilipinas celebrated in front of their home fans. Ray Parks was named ABL Finals MVP, finishing Game 5 with 13 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. For the first time since 2013, the ABL championship was back in the Philippines.

Mono Vampire’s gutsy performance was led by Singletary who had 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists, and Deguara who had 24 points and 18 rebounds.

via ABL

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