Parks drops 8 triples as Alab routs Saigon Heat

Alab Pilipinas rode on Ray Parks’ hot shooting early to coast to a 99-77 victory over the Saigon Heat in the 2017 Asean Basketball League at Olivarez Gym in Paranaque City.

Returning to the same gym where he set a scoring record for a local player, Parks waxed hot anew finishing with 35 points on 8-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc as Alab bounced back from an 80-93 defeat to Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions last Sunday.

“It’s a test of character for us,” said Alab coach Mac Cuan. “I needed a response from the team after that humbling defeat in Hong Kong.”

Parks went 5-of-5 from the three point area in the first period as Alab opened up a double digit and never looked back.

The eight triples of Parks is a record for a local player in the league, breaking the previous mark of the Kaohsiung Truth’s Wesley Hsu who made 7 of 9 treys in the win over Malaysia Westsports Dragons last Wednesday.

Parks now holds two ABL records including the scoring record for a local with 41 points he set in the 93-87 victory over the Truth last Dec. 11 also at Olivarez Gym.

With the win, the Filipinos improved to 7-3, while Saigon absorbed its sixth loss in seven games.

The scores:

Alab (99) – Parks, Jr., 35, Carter 16, Domingo 15, Hughes 12, Cawaling 9, Fortuna 6, Hubalde 2, Celiz 2, Thiele 2, Knuttel 0, Mendoza 0, Acuña 0.

Saigon (77) – Daniel 31, Munzon 20, Nguyen 9, Arnold 6, Charles 6, Bui 0.

Quarter scores: 26-14, 54-30, 80-55, 99-77.