THE AIRASIA Philippine Patriots banked on a late scoring explosion to hack out a 90-84 triumph over the hot-starting Jobstreet.com Singapore Slingers in the Asean Basketball League last night at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Falling back by as many as 15 points, the Patriots came back by dropping a staggering 30 points in the last eight minutes behind Anthony Johnson.
“It’s hard to motivate them because we’re already in the semis, but luckily in the second half, they reacted,” coach Glenn Capacio said of his Patriots, who had secured the No. 2 spot with a 15-5 record.
Johnson, bucking a groin injury, unloaded all but six of his 26 points in the final quarter, while Nakiea Miller had 20 points and 11 rebounds.
The Patriots leaned on a decisive run in the closing minutes, highlighted by a pair of three-point plays from Johnson and three consecutive triples by Ardy Larong, Johnson and Miller, to wrest the lead, 81-69.
The scores:
AIRASIA PHILIPPINES 90—Johnson 26, Miller 20, Larong 9, Ramos 6, Arellano 6, Raymundo 6, Vergara 5, Wainwright 5, Fernandez 3, Laure 2, Rodriguez 2, Adriano 0.
JOBSTREET.COM SINGAPORE 84—Jeffers 30, Graham 20, Dulay 13, Wong 6, Vaughn 6, Oh 5, Matialakan 4, Lim 0, Khoo 0, Ng 0.
Quarters: 13-22, 31-44, 53-62, 90-84