By JP Abcede
MANILA -- San Miguel Alab Pilipinas leaned on a hot second half to break the game open for a 99-93 victory, taking a 2-1 series lead over Mono Vampire Basketball Club in the 2018 ABL Finals Saturday afternoon at Bangkok's Stadium 29.
Justin Brownlee, Bobby Ray Parks, and Josh Urbiztondo turned a 67-all deadlock into a 75-67 margin to end the third period before two-time MVP Parks gave his squad the largest lead, 85-74, with a hook shot with 4:57 to go in the contest.
Chanthachon Teerawat was able to trim the gap to three, 90-93, in the 1:42 mark, but that proved to be the last field goal made by the home team.
Forced to play in the perimeter with the imposing presence of seven-foot-five behemoth Samuel Deguera guarding the paint, Alab made the most with the shots given to them, scoring 13-of-29 from the three-point area for a 44 percent shooting clip.
Parks, Brownlee, and Renaldo Balkman accounted for 76 of Alab's points in the game. The two reinforcements for the Philippine-based squad also combined for 28 rebounds and 14 assists.
Meanwhile, Mono Vampire had a more balanced output with five players finishing in double figures. Michael Singletary led the way with 29 markers, while Deguara had 19 and 14 boards.
Paul Zamar had 16 points, six rebounds, and six feeds in 38 and a half minutes of playing time. Jason Brickman concluded with a double-double of 11 points and 12 assists. Chanthachon was the only Thai in double digits with ten.
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