With the No. 1 seeding in the ABL Season 9 playoffs all but lost after a third straight defeat last Sunday night, San Miguel Alab Pilipinas now hopes to be at full strength by the time the postseason begins in a couple of weeks.
Import Renaldo Balkman missed a third straight game after undergoing surgery to repair a broken nose last Saturday, while Brandon Rosser and Lawrence Domingo remain sidelined by knee injuries.
With only 10 players in uniform, the reigning champions once again bowed to Taiwanese ballclub Formosa Dreamers, 74-88, in the battle of top two teams at Sta. Rosa Multipurpose Sports Complex in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Ray Parks tallied 24 points and PJ Ramos contributed 22, but Alab clearly struggled on both ends in the second half with Balkman still out.
The frustration boiled over late in the game when Caelan Tiongson was ejected for his role in a melee that also involved Formosa import Malcolm Miller.
The win gave the Dreamers the No. 1 spot with an 18-6 record, relegating the Filipinos to second with an 18-7 slate.
The Dreamers, who still have two games left against eliminated teams Wolf Warriors and Westsports Malaysia, will gain the top seeding even if they finish with the same record as Alab after winning three of their four meetings this season.
Alab team owner Charlie Dy said Balkman will still be evaluated next week after undergoing surgery over the weekend. The Puerto Rican import sustained the injury after a collision with Mikh McKinney of Macau Black Bears on March 10.