Alab looks at next season to bounce back

San Miguel Alab Pilipinas vowed to come up with a stronger stand next season after its Asean Basketball League title-retention bid went up in smoke on Wednesday night in Hong Kong.

Alab fell on the wrong end of a quarterfinal sweep to Hong Kong Eastern, which hammered out an emphatic 102-84 victory in Game 2 of their semifinal series at Southorn Stadium in Wan Chai.

Eastern stole home-court advantage with a 90-88 win in Game 1 in Cebu last Friday.

And despite a swashbuckling start that saw them lead 18-6 in the first period, the Filipinos couldn’t sustain their performance as Hong Kong hit 16 treys, nine more than Alab.

What started as a spectacular season for Alab ended in a devastating loss as a spate of injuries late in their campaign hurt the team’s chances.

And just like the previous seasons, no team has yet to win back-to-back titles in the ABL. Alab lost six straight matches to end the season.

“We’ll regroup and we will be back,” Alab owner Charlie Dy told the Inquirer. “We will try to form a stronger team for next season.”