Patriots shackle Tigers anew for 5th straight win

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Patriots stifled the Thailand Tigers with a choking full court pressure to fashion out a 77-61 victory, their fifth straight in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) Championship yesterday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The Patriots toughened up on defense and let their offense take its own course in the fourth quarter as they came through with a telling 20-5 run to turn a 47-43 lead to a 67-48 bulge with 4:49 left in the contest.

The Patriots defense held the Tigers to just eight points in the final quarter while exploding for 30 points of their own to hike their pacesetting record to 6-1.

The Tigers fell to 2-6.

“Thailand was not a pushover team, they really made it hard for us but good thing we were aggressive on offense during the fourth quarter,” said Patriots coach Louie Alas.

The Patriots’ 6-foot-10 import Jason Dixon came away with 19 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, including one against Thai import Chaz Twain Briggs, who tried to slam it in with 3:15 left.

Elmer Espiritu came off the bench to fire 10 points while Brandon Powell and Nonoy Baclao wound up* with nine and eight points, apiece.

Despite beating the Tigers for the second straight time and posting the longest winning streak in the two-month-old tournament, Alas remained wary of their title chances, saying: “It’s still a long way to go. We have eight more games left.”

Co-owned by Harbour Centre president and CEO Mikee Romero and businessman Tonyboy Cojuangco, the Patriots try to extend their run when they collide with Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma on Saturday at The Arena in San Juan.

Briggs led the way for the Tigers with 18 points, but had just six points after the first half, along with 22 rebounds and four assists while Attaporn Lertmalaiporn added 17 points.