Alab Pilipinas slids to 2nd after blowout loss to Slingers

FILE – Jimmy Alapag. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

San Miguel Alab Pilipinas fell off the top spot in the Asean Basketball League Sunday, following a lackluster performance on the road in the 85-64 loss to the Singapore Slingers at OCBC Arena.

The Filipino ballclub was held to a season-low output as the Slingers rolled to a wire-to-wire win that avenged their defeat to Alab in Santa Rosa, Laguna last December.

Alab can’t seem to find a way to stop Xavier Alexander all game-long as the Slingers reinforcement finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and a season-high eight steals. When Alexander took a backseat in the second half, it was another import in Marcus Elliot who put on a shooting clinic for Singapore, hitting three of his five triples in the fourth period to finish with 19 points.

Anthony Mclain also delivered a monster performance on the defensive end with seven blocks to go with 18 points as the Slingers evened their record to 2-2.

Elliot, who won an ABL title with Hong Kong’s Eastern in 2017, gave Singapore its biggest lead of the game, 79-47, with a triple with 6:34 left in the contest.

It was Alab’s third loss in eight games as it dropped to second behind Mono Vampire with a 5-2 record. But two losses in the last three games will be a cause for concern for coach Jimmy Alapag, whose team shot just 34 percent and had nine more turnovers with 15.

Sam Deguara finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, but he was the only Alab player in twin digits as imports Khalif Wyatt and Nick King struggled for a combined 6-of-19 from the field.

The scores:

SINGAPORE SLINGERS 85 — Alexander 31, Elliott 19, McClain 18, Kwek 7, Goh 5, Raj 3, Oh 2, J. Lim 0, K. Lim 0, Tay 0, J. Ng 0, S. Ng 0.

SAN MIGUEL ALAB PILIPINAS 64 — Deguara 14, King 9, Gray 9, Brickman 8, Wyatt 7, Vigil 5, Heading 3, Ganuelas-Rosser 3, Caracut 2, Domingo 2, Rangel 2.

Quarters: 22-17, 42-33, 66-44, 85-64.