ASI TAULAVA of San MiGuel Beer tries to shake off Indonesia import Steve Thomas. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
GAME 1 hero Asi Taulava braces for another down-the-wire struggle when San Miguel Beer shoots for a 2-0 series lead against Indonesia today in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) championship series at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
“They’ll come back in the next game and it’s going to be even harder to get a win,” Taulava said of the defending champion Warriors. “They are very experienced.”
Still a force at 40, the burly Taulava scored San Miguel’s last six points to finish with a game-high 22 on top of 10 rebounds in a 75-70 win over the Warriors Friday in the opener of the best-of-five title playoffs.
San Miguel coach Leo Austria hopes his Beermen can step it up a notch in Game 2 set at 3 p.m. before the series moves to Jakarta this Wednesday.
“I’m happy with our defense but there should be improvement because we had some lapses,” said Austria. “I give credit to the players, especially Asi since he really showed his worth as MVP.”
Chris Banchero collected 15 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Val Acuña also figured in the Beermen’s rally in the last seven minutes to finish with 13.
Indonesia coach Todd Purves said the Warriors’ poor shooting, including a paltry 4-of-21 from three-point range, cost them the game.
“It’s a very simple concept in basketball, you have to make baskets,” said Purves. Steve Thomas paced the Warriors with 20 points and 17 boards, while Filipino-American import Stanley Pringle added 15.
“Any given time he (Pringle) can score, but we did a good job in containing him,” said Austria.