Fight-marred ABL Duel: Beermen nip Patriots five

MANILA, Philippines—A bench-clearing brawl marred another heated showdown between the two Philippine squads in the Asean Basketball League Sunday.

But coach Bobby Parks would rather remember San Miguel Beer’s steady game down the stretch as his Beermen tripped the AirAsia Philippine Patriots, 68-66, in a match that also featured a lot of trash talks and staredowns at the FilOil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Leo Avenido had 17 points, including two clutch free throws in the closing seconds, to help the Beermen snap the longest winning streak yet of six games held by the Patriots.

Avenido shattered a 63-63 deadlock and Froilan Baguion and Dalron Johnson nailed three more foul shots as the Beermen capitalized on two Patriots turnovers in the last 37 seconds.

“I knew it’s going to be a tough match, but I didn’t know it would come as far as the bench almost clearing,” said SMBl coach Bobby Parks after his Beermen improved to second with a 7-3 record.

Johnson capped his 14-point, seven-rebound outing with two free throws in the final eight seconds after the Patriots were forced to foul following Ardy Larong’s errant pass to Reed Juntilla.

The Patriots surrendered their solo lead for a share of the top spot with the Westports Malaysia Dragons at 7-2.

A hard foul by San Miguel’s Aries Dimaunahan on Patriots’ top scorer Anthony Johnson sparked the bench-clearing brawl with 1:16 left in the third quarter that spilled into the gym corridor.

Johnson responded to the foul with a head lock on Dimaunahan and he could end up getting banned for one game. Both players were thrown out when order was restored.

SAN MIGUEL BEER 68—Avenido 17, Johnson 14, Famous 13, Baguion 6, Rizada 5, Ferriols 5, Fernandez 3, Dimaunahan 3, Cabatu 2, Fajardo 0, Gonzales 0.
AIRASIA PHILIPPINES 66—Miller 16, Johnson 14, Laure 12, Vergara 4, Raymundo 4, Fernandez 3,6 Juntilla 3, Larong 3, Wainwright 2, Ybañez 0, Ramos 0, Rodriguez 0,
Quarters: 11-15, 32-26, 49-54, 68-66