Photo from Asean Basketball League Facebook page
STA. ROSA, Laguna — Alab Pilipinas dropped its third straight game after yielding to the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions, 61-83, Sunday night at the jampacked Sta. Rosa Multi Purpose Complex here.
Despite enjoying support from the sellout crowd, the Filipinos had no answer to the visitors’ early barrage as they fell behind early on their way to a fifth defeat in their last six games.
With the loss, Alab also went down to an even 9-9 record and while they don’t look in danger of losing the third seed to the Saigon Heat, serious concerns on their form abound heading into the playoffs.
There was no such problem for the Lions, whose long range shooting and defensive intensity proved no match for Alab.
With the win, Hong Kong extended its winning streak to 10 games while improving to 15-2 and seal the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
The Filipinos were looking to turn things around after losing twice via double digit margins to the Long Lions including last an 87-100 defeat last Friday at Southorn Stadium in Hong Kong.
But just like in their first two meetings, the Long Lions dominated the game right from the get-go with the trio of Tyler Lamb, Marcus Elliot and Josh Boone doing most of the damage.
Lamb finished with 24 points on 5 of 11 shooting from beyond the arc, while Boone, an NBA veteran, wound up with 23 points and 19 boards. Elliot shot 4 of 16 from the field but still finished with 18 points and six assists.
The Lions led by as large as 24 points in the second period, and Alab only got close by 13 at 56-69 with under five minutes remaining.
Boone scored on a tip-in and Lamb nailed a triple to quell the uprising as the home fans started heading to the exits. Hong Kong hit nine of 30 shots from beyond the arc and dished out 12 more assists than Alab with 20.
The scores
HONG KONG EASTERN LONG LIONS 83 – Lamb 24, Boone 23, Elliott 18, Fong 5, Chan 5, Guinchard 4, Lau 3, Tang 1, Lee 0, Wu 0, Chung 0, Ip 0
ALAB PILIPINAS 61 – Domingo 15, Hughes 12, Celiz 12, Parks Jr. 9, Fortuna 7, Carter 6, Acuna 0, Hubalde 0, Mendoza 0, Cawaling 0
Quarter scores: 24-12, 48-28, 67-44, 83-61