The finalists of the Asean Basketball League will represent Southeast Asia in the 2012 Fiba Asian Champions Cup this October in Lebanon.
Fiba Asia, the sport’s governing body in the region, made the announcement yesterday as the ABL’s top four teams gear up for the best-of-three semifinals next week.
The San Miguel Beermen, who nailed the No. 1 spot after a 17-4 elimination-round record, will battle the No. 4 Malaysia Westports Dragons (11-10) in the series starting on May 26.
The AirAsia Philippine Patriots, seeded second with a 16-5 card, will take on the Indonesia Warriors (12-9) in the other pairing on May 27.
Last year, only the champion squad earned the right to represent the region in the club tournament.
However, the Chang Thailand Slammers, who stunned the inaugural champion Patriots in the finals, failed to participate in the tournament following the Fiba suspension of the Thai basketball association.
The Dragons, who finished third last year, took the slot as host Philippines was already represented by the Smart Gilas national team.