By Kevin Estrada
Kuala Lumpur had sent San Miguel Alab Pilipinas crashing down to earth yet anew, sweeping their homestand at the MABA Stadium with a 92-80 win Wednesday evening.
In a wire-to-wire fashion, the Dragons pounced on the absence of the returning Justin Brownlee, firing in from all cylinders to win for the second straight time against Alab, moving to fourth in the ABL standings at 8-7.
The four-time PBA champion apparently failed to board on time for their flight to the Malaysian capital, according to Alab team owner Charlie Dy.
The dynamic duo of Will Artino and Cade Davis doing damage for KL as they clocked in double-doubles for mentor Jamie Pearlman.
Artino, the recent player of the week awardee, showed why he is one of the leading candidates for the World Import MVP award by firing in a game-high 29 points and 10 rebounds.
While the lefty slotman was doing damage from inside the arc, Cade Davis was lights out with 26 points on six triples and dished out 10 dimes, with Simeon Lepichev and Amir Bell each had eleven.
The Dragons were firing hot right from the opening tip, with a huge third quarter explosion paved the way to a blowout win, leading by as much as 27, 88-61 on Davis’ pair with almost six minutes remaining, in which Nick King’s late game outburst proved to be just a mere consolation as Alab fell to 9-6 but still retaining the second spot.
King scored 17 of his team-high 28 in the final frame that cushioned their defeat, an improved performance considering they were beaten by 28 in their first meeting fifteen days ago.
Alab never got their bearings when center Sam Deguara got into foul trouble early in the opening period with two first-quarter fouls, and even head coach Jimmy Alapag was slapped with a technical foul late in the contest.
But Brownlee’s absence made Jordan Heading playing his best shooting game since their OT win away at Wolf Warriors, firing in 26 points on an 8/11 clip from beyond the arc.
The 2018 champions will have to wait for four days before parading the Ginebra legend in Sta. Rosa, where they take on Saigon for the second time.
The scores:
KUALA LUMPUR 92 — Artino 29, Davis 26, Bell 11, Lepichev 11, Ting 7, Chin 4, Tem 3, Loh 1, Wong 0, Tan 0, Sim 0
SAN MIGUEL ALAB PILIPINAS 80 — King 28, Heading 26, Domingo 6, Caracut 5, Brickman 4, Deguara 4, Vigil 3, Gray 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Rangel 0
Quarter scores: 23-12, 46-32, 77-55, 92-80
Follow the writer on Twitter: @kevinlestrada
Photo courtesy of Asean Basketball League
