Patriots snare Dragons, gain temporary lead

MANILA, Philippines - Firing on all cylinders and putting the cuffs on the opponents’ imports, the AirAsia Philippine Patriots waylaid Westports Malaysia Dragons, 86-72, to grab a share of the provisional lead in the third AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Arena last night.

The Patriots turned to the double-double efforts of imports Anthony Johnson (27 points, 12 rebounds) and Nakiea Miler (21 points, 15 rebounds) and point guard Al Vergara (13 points, 12 assists) to notch their third straight win and 4-1 overall.

The triumph vaulted the Patriots to the joint lead with the Singapore Slingers at presstime. The Slingers were playing the Chang Thailand Slammers. 

“The key to this win was limiting the touches of (Tiras) Wade and (Brian) Williams),” said Patriots coach Glenn Capacio whose wards dealt the Dragons their second consecutive loss for a 3-2 slate.

“Anthony Johnson limited Wade from his usual scoring output and our locals stepped up on defense against Williams. He couldn’t get his rhythm going because of the defense of Rob (Wainwright) and Bogs (Raymundo),” he added.

Wade coughed out 16 points, way off his norm of 24.5. Williams scored more than his average (21.25) as he finished with 23 markers, most of them at the time the Patriots were unassailably ahead, along with 16 boards.

Miller and Johnson spearheaded a 15-2 windup that pushed the Patriots ahead at the half, 46-29. That was all they needed to complete the blowout in the game presented by PG FLex Linoleum. The team co-owned by Mikee Romero and Tony Boy Cojuangco enjoyed leads that reached as high as 34 at 65-31, 3:29 left in the third period.

Lending a helping hand to the imports was the veteran Vergara, who made a 5-of-7 clip, including three triples, while dishing off a dozen assists.

“The good thing about Al is that he’s a pass-first point guard. The other four players on the floor enjoy playing with him. But in this game, he stepped up (in scoring) seeing the focus of the Dragons’ defense was on AJ and Nakiea,” said Capacio.

The scores:

Phl Patriots 86 – Johnson 27, Miller 21, Vergara 13, Fernandez 7, Larong 6, Rodriguez 4, Laure 4, Ybanez 2, Raymundo 2, Wainwright 0, Saldua 0, Juntilla 0.

Malaysia 72 – Williams 23, Wade 16, Cabahug 10, Ng 5, Kwaan 4, Loh 4, Batumalai 3, Pacana 3, Belasco 2, Ing 2, Lau 2, Kuek 0, Kuppusamy 0.

Quarterscores: 22-13; 46-29; 70-43; 86-72