Warriors forge KO duel for ABL title

JAKARTA—In what the coach described as “not their best basketball yet,” the Indonesia Warriors foiled the San Miguel Beermen’s title sweep bid, 81-61, to forge a winner-take-all finale in the Asean Basketball League yesterday at the Mahaka Square here.

Evan Brock and Stanley Pringle got things going early for the Warriors, leading them to an early double-digit buffer, 40-28, on the way to a surprisingly dominant 20-point drubbing.

“We just played hard and made a good effort in executing at both ends,” said Indonesia’s American coach Todd Purves. “I think it’s not our best basketball yet. But everyone came in really motivated to play.”

The Beermen will shoot for the crown anew at home with the do-or-die Game 3 set this Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

Brock unloaded 26 points—built on a strong 11-of-19 shooting clip—and hauled down 16 rebounds to lead the Warriors.

Pringle, the speedy Filipino-American guard suiting up as an import for the Warriors, drilled all but three of his 13 points in the first quarter aside from collecting five assists and a couple of steals.

But it’s the contribution of the Indonesian locals, led by Arki Wisnu, that also proved pivotal in helping turn Game 2 into a lopsided contest by the second half.

“We were able to guard them (Beermen) a little better this time,” said Purves.

In the opener of the best-of-three series last week, the Beermen also trailed by as many as 14 points before Nick Fazekas, Duke Crews and Froilan Baguion fueled a late turnaround for an 86-83 victory.

The scores:

INDONESIA 81—Brock 26, Pringle 13, Thomas 12, Cañada 9, Wisnu 7, Wuysang 4, Prihantono 3, Gunawan 3, Wibawa 2, Salangsang 2, Ristanto 0, Sitepu 0.

SAN MIGUEL BEER 61—Crews 16, Avenido 13, Fazekas 10, Yap 8, Banchero 6, Fernandez 5, Fajardo 3, Luanzon 0, Baguion 0, Ferriols 0, Gonzales 0, Dimaunahan 0.

Quarters: 24-23, 42-33, 64-49, 81-61