FILE – Alab Pilipinas’ Jeremiah Gray. INQUIRER PHOTO/TRISTAN TAMAYO
Import Nick King led a fiery start as San Miguel Alab Pilipinas returned to winning ways with a wire-to-wire 82-75 victory over Saigon Heat Sunday night in the Asean Basketball League Season 10 at Sta. Rosa Multi Purpose Complex in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Rebounding from a sub-par showing in the loss to the Kuala Lumpur Dragons on the road last Tuesday, King poured 20 of his 26 points in the first half, while fellow import Sam Deguara finished with 15 points as the Fiipino ballclub improved to 9-5 for second spot behind Mono Vampire of Thailand (10-4).
King also grabbed 12 boards and got four steals, while Jason Brickman finished with a game-high 14 assists.
Filipino-American guard Jeremiah Gray also dished out 13 points, including seven in the first quarter where Alab took its first double digit lead at 21-10 on Jordan Heading’s three-pointer.
The advantage ballooned to 23 with Gray’s dunk at the 6:01 mark of the third making it a 60-37 game.
But the Heat nearly fought their way back from the deficit in the final seconds when import Sam Thompson’s foul shots pushed the visitors to within four points, 75-79, with 40 seconds remaining.
King found Deguara for a slam on the next play, snuffing out hopes of a reversal by the Heat, who absorbed their ninth loss in 12 games.
The Scores:
SAN MIGUEL ALAB PILIPINAS 82 — King 26, Deguara 15, Gray 13, Heading 9, Domingo 6, Brickman 5, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, Williams 2, Vigil 2, Caracut 0, Aban 0, Rangel 0.
SAIGON HEAT 75 — Thompson 32, Taylor 15, White 10, Tran 7, Young 5, Dierker 2, Nguyen 2, Dinh 2.
Quarters: 25-15, 50-31, 71-54, 82-75.