JAKARTA – The Philippine Patriots made the first basket in the inaugural Asean Basketball League and went on to record the first win – a 76-69 victory over Indonesian club Satria Muda Britama at the Britama Arena here Saturday.
Robert Wainwright hit a three-pointer for the league’s first basket and came through with another triple to help power the Patriots to the victory in a tightly fought contest.
Both sides endured spotty officiating with hand checks and excess steps given too much attention with RP’s import Jason Dixon drawing two fouls in a span of four and a half minutes.
But coaches Bogs Adornado and Ryan Dy made timely adjustments with Mark Andaya stepping up and the troika of Froilan Baguion, Christian Coronel and Warren Ybanez taking turns in running the plays for the Patriots.
They settled down in the third quarter, outscoring their rivals, 23-14, as they took a 10-point lead heading into the last period.
Wainwright combined with former Florida Gator forward Brandon Powell as the Patriots raced to a 67-54 lead before thwarting a late surge by Satria Muda on a triple by Filipino guard Rensy Bajar and four straight points by local Julius Faisal that closed that gap at 67-70, 40.8 seconds remaining.
“It’s the first game but I told them to treat it like their last, just like a championship game,” said Adornado.
, who took over for head coach Louie Alas, who is still with Letran in the NCAA.
The Patriots again play on the road against the Singapore Slingers this weekend in the first home-and-away cage league in the region.