SAN MIGUEL Beer banked on a strong windup to dump Jobstreet.com Singapore, 73-53, Friday night and streak to its fourth successive victory in the Asean Basketball League at Tan Binh Stadium in Saigon.
Chris Banchero continued to wax hot for San Miguel with a game-high 19 points in the tight game that turned into a rout only in the closing minutes as the Beermen held the Slingers to just eight points in the fourth period.
Brian Williams (15 points and 10 rebounds) and Asi Taulava (11 points and 10 boards) also wound up in double figures to help the Beermen stay at solo second with a 7-3 record.
The Beermen kicked off the final quarter with a 10-2 spurt to build their first double-digit lead, 59-47, and pulled away for good.
New import Justin Williams, who debuted with seven points and 10 boards, temporarily took over the spot of the explosive Gabe Freeman, who might sit it out for two more weeks due to a strained medial collateral ligament (MCL).
The 6-foot-10 Justin Williams, who recently saw action with Globalport in the PBA, averaged 13.43 points, 18 rebounds and 4.57 blocks in seven games.
San Miguel coach Leo Austria said he expects Williams to do even better when the Beermen tackle host Saigon at 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. in Manila) on Saturday.
Just recently, the Beermen also had Matt Rogers for a couple of games after first-choice import Brian Williams was sidelined by a knee injury.
Rashaad Singleton had 16 points to pace the Slingers, who dropped to 4-6.
All teams converged in Saigon for a three-day hoopfest where some of the league’s top players will compete in a slam-dunk contest and a three-point shootout aside from participating in basketball clinics and community outreach activities.
Williams will represent the Beermen in the slamdunk contest, while Avenido will compete in three-point contest. Jasmine W. Payo
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL BEER 73—Banchero 19, Williams B. 15, Taulava 11, Willimas J. 7, Acuna 6, Avenido 4, Rizada 4, Hubalde 3, Cawaling 2, Fortuna 2, Luanzon 2, Thiele 0.
JOBSTREET.COM SINGAPORE 53—Singleton 16, Jennings 14, Oh 7, Dulay 6, Cabatu 4, Folkoff 3, De 3, Goh T. 0, Lim 0, Goh K. 0.
Quarters: 17-13, 36-33, 49-45, 73-53