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| Ray Parks once again became the reliable guy for Alab Pilipinas, posting his third 20+ point game to power them to their third win of the season. (file) |
By Kevin Estrada
KAOHSIUNG -- Alab Pilipinas nearly blew a 14-point halftime lead but kept their nerve in a wire-to-wire 86-77 win over the Kaohsiung Truth to improve their ABL standings earlier in the afternoon at the Municipal Senior High School gym in Taiwan's second city.
Bobby Ray Parks was the usual suspect for new dad Mac Cuan by pouring in 28 huge markers for the visiting Pinoys who maintained their hold at third spot by moving up to 3-2, with all wins were against the Taiwanese side who dropped to 1-4 for the season.
Sampson Carter backed up the former UAAP MVP with a 23-point, 6-rebound stint on his debut for Alab, with fellow debutant James Hughes not far behind, as he had a rebound short of a double-double to go along with his 12 points.
Derek Hall played the entire game for the Truth, firing in 31 points in a losing effort to split their back-to-back homestand after garnering their first win of the season over the still-winless Saigon Heat yesterday.
Alab led by as much as 14, 43-29 at the end of the first half and were set to post their third win when the Truth made its scare in the final two minutes, reducing a 10-point lead in the final two minutes of the game to just four, 81-77 courtesy of Cedric Oliver's six-point blitz.
But Jeric Fortuna made a corner three-pointer with 51 seconds to go to pull away for good and to set up a Friday rematch with the league leading Singapore Slingers, who are playing at home to the Malaysia Dragons as of press time.
The Scores:
ALAB PILIPINAS 86 - Parks 28, Carter 23, Hughes 12, Acuna 10, Celiz 6, Domingo 4, Fortuna 3
KAOHSIUNG 77 - Hall 31, Oliver 19, Chang 10, Hsu 8, Inigo 6, Jose 2, Wey 1
Quarter scores: 22-17, 43-29, 63-53, 86-77
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