5 January 2020
By Kevin Estrada
SAN JUAN — It was a bad start to the new year for San Miguel Alab Pilipinas, as saw their league-best 4-game winning streak snapped by the Macau Wolf Warriors, who pulled off a 98-93 shocker Sunday evening at the FilOil FlyingV Centre.
Six players scored in double figures for former champion coach Todd Purves, as they split their games this season after Alab took the opener last November in an overtime thriller.
Skipper Douglas Herring and Julian Boyd each had 21 for the Wolf Warriors, who won the game by hitting 40% from beyond the arc and scoring 26/37 free throws in a see-saw encounter, in which they nearly blew a 13-point lead early in the second period.
“It feels satisfying,” said Purves, who won the ABL title with the Indonesia Warriors seven years ago in which he had his veteran Steven Thomas in the fold. “You know you beat a good team.”
Alab turned the ball over 14 times with Macau converting it to 22 points in the process.
In a game having 19 lead changes and 10 deadlocks, it was Macau who put the final touches by scoring on an 8-0 run in the final 2:45.
Nick King saw his season-high 33 points went down the drain for Alab Pilipinas, in which it was spoiled by a late-game meltdown after having a 1-point lead, as they fell to 4-2 for the season.
Not only they lose their hot streak, they have dropped to fourth in the standings at 4-2 as they have to take on the 6-3 Fubon Braves in two days’ time.
The scores:
Macau Wolf Warriors 98 — Herring 21, Boyd 21, Cai 15, Ewing 13, Hu 11, Thomas 10, Tang 7, Shentu 0
Alab Pilipinas 93 — King 33, Wyatt 15, Domingo 11, Gray 10, Ganuelas-Rosser 9, Brickman 7, Deguara 4, Vigil 4, Heading 0
Quarter scores: 25-19, 47-47, 80-76, 98-93
Follow the writer on Twitter: @kevinlestrada
