PH Patriots gun for solo lead against Cobras

MANILA, Philippines—The AirAsia Philippine Patriots vie to keep the solo lead against the erratic Bangkok Cobras at 6 Sunday night in the Asean Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

Looking to stretch their winning run to six, the Patriots (6-1) expect a tougher game this time against the Cobras (3-4), who lost, 86-58, in their first meeting last month.

The Cobras, mentored by Kobe Bryant’s father Joe Bryant, will parade a retooled roster with Filipino imports Jai Reyes and Ken Bono.

Reyes, a former Ateneo standout, scored 13 points coming off the bench in the Cobras’ 76-61 road-game victory over the Saigon Heat last week.

The Cobras have also been leaning on Michael Earl, Gentry Lewis and Marvin Cruz, the Filipino point guard averaging 14.3 points in his last four games.

Patriots coach Glenn Capacio, however, expects the homecourt advantage to work in their favor following two tough back-to-back road game victories against the Singapore Slingers (80-75) and defending champion Chang Thailand Slammers (81-72).

Playing consistently for the Patriots are import Anthony Johnson, who paces the team with a 24.6 points average, and veteran guard Al Vergara, who leads the league in assists with an average of 6.57 dishes a game.

The Patriots also got a recent boost with the return of Aldrech Ramos, who was sidelined for three games due to an ankle injury.

“We need to win this game as our motivation for our next important game against San Miguel,” Capacio said of his Patriots, whose lone loss came against their fellow Philippine squad.