Patriots repeat over Dragons, gain finals

MANILA, Philippines –  The AirAsia Philippine Patriots, drawing big games from Egay Billones and Benedict Fernandez, outlasted the Kuala Lumpur Dragons, 95-92, to clinch the first finals berth in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League at the MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Saturday.

Billones and Fernandez stepped up as imports Gabe Freeman and Steven Thomas ran into foul trouble early, hitting a triple each in the fourth quarter to help the Patriots thwart the Dragons’ repeated rallies to complete a sweep of their best-of-three semis series.

Fernandez’s trey virtually took the fight out of the hosts as the Patriots built a five-point cushion at 94-89 with only 16 seconds left in the contest.

“That was the biggest shot of the night,” said Patriots coach Louie Alas. “We had some lapses defensively but Benedict bailed us out of trouble.”

Co-team owner Mikee Romero also made a surprise visit then congratulated the Patriots for the victory.

“They rotated the ball very well this time and good thing we shot very well from the outside,” said Romero.

Thomas scored 20 points and 19 rebounds for the Patriots, who outscored the Dragons in the paint, 36-26, and beat them off the boards, 49-37.

Fernandez, who scored three of the team’s nine triples, finished with 13 points before fouling out like Warren Ybanez and Paul Alcaraz.

The Patriots got into foul trouble with still seven minutes left in the fourth period but they managed to hang on as Billones, Freeman, Thomas and Chito Jaime hit clutch baskets.

The Patriots took a 74-63 lead going into the final 10 minutes as Junjun Cabatu and Ybanez highlighted a closing 15-8 run with a triple each.

Billones finished with 18 points, including three triples, while Freeman wound up with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

“As I said before, we’re here to support the locals. Everybody stepped up, so we swept the Dragons again,” said Freeman.

Alas and Romero, however, said they need to prepare real hard for the finals either against the Thailand Slammers or the Singapore Slingers.

The Slammers beat the Singapore Slingers, 81-76, in the opener of their own series last Monday in Bangkok.