Mono forges decider

Mono’s 7-foot-5 pillar Samuel Deguara (top), denies Renaldo Balkman as Teerawat Chanthachon prepares to give help. —ABL PHOTO

BANGKOK —Paul Zamar never imagined being in this moment more than a year ago when he signed for Mono Vampire.

Hardly getting attention from PBA teams back home, the former University of the East stalwart found himself playing for the Thai powerhouse in a stadium in the outskirts of Bangkok with his team protecting a three-point cushion against a San Miguel Alab Pilipinas side looking to clinch the Asean Basketball League crown.

With the shot clock winding down, Zamar took two dribbles before knocking in a floater that sealed Mono’s 88-83 victory over Alab Monday night that sent the best-of-five Finals into a winner-take game.

“I was not thinking that I was playing against the Philippines, because our season was on the line,” said the 30-year-old Zamar. “It was a relief that I made that shot especially because I was struggling the whole game.”

“I didn’t look at it as redemption but as survival,” he went on.
Our season was on the line. It wasn’t easy, and we had to find other ways to win.”

The 5-foot-11 Zamar finished with 11 points on a mediocre 4-of-12 shooting, but his gutsy drive and that dagger floater gave Mono a lifeline in a series that has turned out to be a dogfight in the first four games.

“Coming into the clutch, our team effort gave me the opportunity to make a play,” Zamar said. “We were right there trading blows [with Alab]. It was more of relief that I made it.”

Even Alab coach Jimmy Alapag raved at Zamar’s basket, the impact of which was almost similar to the one that Ray Parks made over Zamar late in the Filipinos’ 99-93 win in Game 3.

“That was a big shot similar to Ray’s the other night,” said Alapag, who was left to rue his team’s sloppiness that resulted in 26 turnovers.

Still, Alapag feels they have achieved their mission in the Thai capital by getting a split and taking the series back home for what could be an explosive decider at Santa Rosa Multi-Purpose Sports Complex in Laguna on Wednesday night.

Parks finished with 21 points, while Justin Brownlee and Renaldo Balkman had 18 points each for Alab, which played catchup for most of the game following a flat start that saw them commit 19 turnovers in the first half.