Alab runs out of steam vs Dragons

MANILA, Philippines — Alab Pilipinas absorbed a harsh 91-63 beating in the hands of Westports Malaysia Dragons and was denied a share of top spot in the ASEAN Basketball League at the MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. 

Coming off two overtime victories last week, fatigue finally took its toll on the Philippine squad. The forgettable 28-point loss pushed them back to the drawing board. 

Alab slipped to 8-5 for a tie of second spot with Fubon Braves as Mono Vampire regained its place at the top with a 10-4 record. 

Only imports Nick King (11), Prince Williams (11) and Sam Deguara (10) served as the bright spots for the Jimmy Alapag-mentored squad as the local side led by Jason Brickman had an off night. 

Brickman averaged 24 points and seven assists in the last two victories of Alab but bled for just two against KL. It certainly did not help the cause for the San Miguel-backed franchise. 

The Dragons, behind Will Artino’s 24 markers, improved to 5-5 in sixth place. 

Meanwhile, the league has postponed 15 of its scheduled games this month due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus that forced travel restrictions in many countries. 

“The ABL announced the rescheduling of several games in the 2019-2020 regular season following the travel restrictions that have been enforced in certain countries,” said the 10-team Asian league, postponing games this month in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. 

The list of the postponed games starts on Feb. 8 featuring Formosa Dreamers and Hong Kong Eastern at the Changhua Stadium in Taiwan.