Barracudas deal Patriots first loss

Bandar Seri Begawan—The Brunei Barracudas became the first team to halt the run of the Philippine Patriots after the home team forged a 71-56 victory Saturday in the AirAsia Asian Basketball League at the Brunei Indoor Stadium here. The Barracudas pounced on a Patriots squad that finally couldn’t cover up its lack of an import and held the defending champions to just two points in the first quarter to score the upset. “We started flat,” said Patriots’ coach Louie Alas said after the match, which snapped the Philippine’s five-game run in the tournament. “We had a good start for a brief moment in the second quarter but Donald (Little) went into foul trouble. Then in the midgame we managed to regain our bearing only to fail to sustain the momentum,” lamented Alas. The Patriots were actually paying a fifth straight match without a second import after Anthony Johnson suffered a hamstring injury. But Donald Littlecould no longer make up for the lack of firepower as he had in the previous four matches. Only Egay Billones stepped up to fill the offensive void, notching a team-high 19 markers. With only Little to worry about, the Barracudas frolicked from outside as their two imports – Chris Commons and Christopher Garnett – and Ramsey Williams combined for 52 points for Brunei, which clinched its second win in six outings. “It’s nice to win over the Patriots, especially we’re the first one to beat them this season. All I can say is we’re blessed that they (Patriots) were in their off night, so hindi nasayang ang preparasyon ng team Barracudas,” said Brunei’s Filipino coach Bong Ramos. The Barracudas decked the Patriots right off, 16-2, then hung tough in the face of whatever the latter could offer. The only bright note for the Patriots was when they moved within 21-23 on a basket by Cabatu late in the second period after trailing at 10-23. But a triple by Chester Tolomia and Esmond Tan’s basket at the break gave Brunei a 28-21 lead at the turn. The scores: Brunei Barracudas (71) – Ramsey Williams 23, Chris Commons 20, Christopher Garnett 9, Chester Tolomia 9, Bryan Faundo 6, Esmond Tan 4, Benjamin Lim 0, Jamri Ramlee 0. RP Patriots (56) —  Billones 19, Donald Little 11, Santiago Cabatu 8, Chito Jaime 6, Joseph Salangsang 3, Warren Ybanez 3, John Alcaraz 2, Orlando Daroya 2, Harold Sta. Cruz 1, Alex Crisano 1, Benedict Fernandez 1, Narciso Llagas 0. Quarters: 16-2, 28-21, 51-36, 71-56