Patriots take first game

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Patriots rode on the strong performances of imports Gabe Freeman and Jason Dixon as they survived a stubborn Satria Muda Indonesia side, 78-68, to gain the headstart in their best-of-five title duel in the Asean Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City last night.

Freeman, a former import in the PBA, came away with a league-high 39 points on an impressive 16-of-28 shooting in a solid offensive game he spiked with 14 rebounds, two steals, one assist and a block.

The bull-strong Dixon, another former PBA reinforcement, was equally impressive as he nailed his 14th double-double performance in 15 games in this fledgling league, finishing with 13 points and 17 rebounds. He also made three assists, two steals and two shotblocks.

But defense, particularly in the second half, keyed the victory for the hosts.

“We were very inconsistent in our defense because we were relying so much on outscoring our opponent,” said Patriots coach Louie Alas. “It would have been easier had we played consistently – defensively.”

The Patriots hope to raise the level of their game on Wednesday when they gun for a 2-0 lead in the series, which shifts to The Arena in San Juan.

Game Three is set in Jakarta, Indonesia on Feb. 21 while Games 4 and 5, if necessary, are scheduled on Feb. 24 and 28, respectively.

“We will use our defense as our barometer in Game Two,” said Alas.

Alas also warned his locals not to rely too much on their explosive imports.

“The boys have a tendency of relying on our imports too much. Thankfully, Gabe and Jason kept on encouraging the locals,” said Alas.

Fil-Am and former pro Rob Wainright led the locals with nine points.

Satria Muda imports Nakeia Miller and Alex Hartman paced their team with 22 and 12 points, respectively, but the two just had no answer to the prolific Patriots’ imports’ offensive.

The Indonesians, however, refused to give up as they battled back from nine points down in the first half to wrest a 56-50 lead in the third quarter.

But Freeman took over, scoring almost at will, while the rest backed him up with a gritty defense that took the sting out of the Indonesians.