Visiting San Miguel clobbered by Malaysia in the ABL semis

MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel was held spellbound for five minutes in the fourth quarter and took a 77-100 pounding from Westports Malaysia Saturday in game two of the semifinals of the Asean Basketball League in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Beermen couldn’t buy a basket in the final period which allowed Dragons, who were having a field day, to pull away for the victory at their homecourt and even the best-of-three series, 1-1.

Leo Avenido, who didn’t have a major impact offensively with just 10 points, gave San Miguel its last bucket with still 8:21 in the clock until Duke Crews’ slam with just three minutes left.

Crews, whose frustration was palpable as San Miguel’s shooting woes continued in the fourth, led with just 15 points while Chris Banchero and Nick Fazekas combined for 25 points.

The Beermen, though, still have a chance to take the franchise’s first trip to the ABL finals as the series shift back to Manila on June 9 with a winner-take-all game three.

Import Tiras Wade was simply unstoppable as he scattered a whopping 34 points even as Brian Williams dropped 26 points and collected 15 rebounds.

The Dragons lost the lead they built from get go as the Beermen opened up the third quarter blistering, but quickly regained control with the efforts of Williams, Wade and Patrick Cabahug.