Jeremiah Gray came up with the biggest defensive play of the game with four seconds left as San Miguel Alab Pilipinas hacked out a thrilling 77-76 win over Hong Kong Eastern Thursday night in the Asean Basketball League Season 10 at Southorn Stadium in Hong Kong.
Gray blocked a potential game winning triple from Eastern’s Jon Siu as the Filipino ballclub escaped with a big victory on the road against the same team that ended its playoff run last season.
Alab import Nick King finished with 24 points, including the go-ahead basket with 65 seconds remaining.
But his efforts nearly went down the drain as his pass on the inbound led to teammate Prince Williams’ backcourt violation with seven seconds left allowed Eastern to get one final crack at the basket.
Alab’s defense however held firm in the final play of the game with Gray closing out on Siu who had hit his last three shots in the final quarter.
Alab nearly wasted an 18-point lead in the second half as Hong Kong came storming back behind Brandis Raley-Ross and Siu whose triple gave the home team a 72-71 lead with 4:39 left.
With the victory, Alab Pilipinas improved to 6-3 for third spot, while snapping Eastern’s two game winning run.
Jason Brickman had a season high 16 assists but missed all but one of his nine attempts while Sam Deguara, playing against his former team, chipped in 12 points and six rebounds.
Alab returns to the Philippines on Saturday to play Mono Vampire on Sunday at Caloocan Sports Complex.
The Scores:
Alab Pilipinas 77 – King 24, Williams 14, Deguara 12, Gray 11, Vigil 5, Heading 3, Brickman 2, Domingo 2, Rosser 2, Caracut 0.
Hong Kong 76 – Raley-Ross 33, Costner 19, Holyfield 13, Siu 8, Guinchard 2, Ng 1, Xu 0.
Quarters: 23-14, 45-30, 63-60, 77-76.