Saigon burns SMB; Patriots face Slingers

THE SAIGON Heat stunned San Miguel Beer, 66-63, to snap the Beermen’s five-game winning streak last night in the Asean Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig.

The Heat, who missed half of their free throw shots down the stretch, got the breaks when they needed it and squeezed out just their fourth victory in 13 matches.

Import Jahmar Thorpe made the second of two free throws to give Saigon a three-point breather with eight ticks remaining, and then the Heat watched San Miguel’s Froilan Baguion miss a triple  at the buzzer to escape with the upset.

Thorpe had 24 points for the Heat.

San Miguel, which shot a hypothermic 6-of-30 from downtown, dropped to 10-4 and remains at second place behind the  AirAsia Philippine Patriots (10-2) in the standings.

Leo Avenido, who exploded for 33 points in the Beermen’s victory over Bangkok last week, finished with 17 points.

Meanwhile, the streaking Patriots gun for a repeat against JobStreet.com Singapore when they clash today at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Patriots swept their last three games over 10 days on the road to stay on top of the eight-team field with a 10-2 record.

Expected to shine anew for the Patriots are 6-foot-9 Nakiea Miller and locals Kiko Adriano and Bogs Raymundo.

Miller,  the reigning Best Import, finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds to propel the Patriots to a 90-87 win over the Malaysia Dragons last Saturday in Kuala Lumpur.

Patriots coach Glenn Capacio is hoping to draw all-around performances from  Raymundo and Adriano in order to follow up their 80-75 conquest of the Slingers in the first round.