Patriots, Indonesians in vital tiff

MANILA, Philippines - The AirAsia Philippine Patriots try to secure the homecourt advantage in the semis when they clash with Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma today in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta.

The defending champion Patriots dropped their last two games and lost a crack at the top spot. They took a crushing 92-74 setback at the hands of the Kuala Lumpur Dragons last Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena, leaving the Patriots with no recourse but beat the Indonesians.

The match will be shown live on ESPN.

To secure the No. 2 spot, the Patriots must not only beat the hosts but must also hope for an upset by the Brunei Barracudas over the Dragons also today.

The Dragons and Patriots tote identical 8-6 records, but if they both win, the Malaysians will gain the homecourt advantage over the Phl side.

Bannered by three Filipino imports in Patrick Cabahug and Rudy Lingganay, the Dragons beat the Patriots twice in three meetings this season.

“We just have to play with confidence and intensity,” said Alas, who is again expected to rely on imports Gabe Freeman and Steve Thomas, and locals like Egay Billones, Junjun Cabatu, Chito Jaime and Benedict Fernandez.

Another loss would drop the Patriots to No. 4.

The Phl cagers should also expect a tough challenge from the Indonesians, who are still in the thick of the fight for No. 4 with the Singapore Slingers.

“We just need to get our acts back together. We’ll just have to focus on the task at hand and avoid playing soft on both ends,” said Alas.