MANILA, Philippines - The short-handed AirAsia-Philippine Patriots put on another gallant fight before absorbing a 82-78 loss to Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League Season 2 Saturday at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta.
Despite playing with only one import, the Patriots almost pulled off another great escape act when they took a 74-73 lead but BritAma responded quickly to notch their third win in 11 games.
The 6-foot-9 Marcus Morrison put the BritAma on top anew with a tough one-handed shot off the outstretched arms of Jun Jun Cabatu before former PBA player Kiko Adriano sealed the win for the home team with a put back with only a minute left.
The third straight loss of the Patriots was their longest losing streak since the birth of the regional league last year. For that, they dropped to a share of second place with the Kuala Lumpur Dragons at 6-4.
The Chang Thailand Slammers boosted their hold of the lead by downing the Singapore Slingers, 77-66, for an 8-2 record.
Aside from playing with only one import in Rashiem Wright, the Patriots also missed the services of Louie Alas who is still recovering from a bout with flu. Donald Little – the team’s other import – was released the other week for not living up to the expectation of the management.
Down 76-79, the Patriots had the chance to tie the count but Wright bungled a wide open three-point attempt.
Assistant coaches Ryan Dy and William Adornado again called the shots for the team in the absence of Alas.