Alab Pilipinas’ Renaldo Balkman slams one home in their 105-95 win over the Zhuhai Wolf Warriors in their ASEAN Basketball League game held in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. Contributed photo/Ron Tolin
Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu – The San Miguel Alab Pilipinas remained unbeaten in the 2019 Asean Basketball League (ABL) as they blew away the Zhuhai Wolf Warriors, 105-95, in a highly entertaining ballgame on Sunday evening at the Hoops Dome here.
In their very first home game in Cebu, Alab Pilipinas did not disappoint and thrilled the partisan crowd with a barrage of three-pointers in a hot-shooting second canto that saw them take control of the lead, 59-43, after leading by just three, 22-19, after the first.
Alab Pilipinas now totes a 5-0 win-loss record and is the only unbeaten team in the league this season while the Wolf Warriors stumbled to 1-9.
Renaldo Balkman and Ethan Alvano scored 21 points each, the former adding seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Reserve guard Josh Urbiztondo put up 19 points, making six shots from beyond the arc.
Two-time local MVP winner Bobby Ray Parks managed just 12 points in 18 minutes of action with Alab Pilipinas comfortably up, 86-67, at the end of the third.
The Fireball
Nicknamed “The Fireball,” Urbiztondo lived up to his moniker as he came into the game with guns blazing, sparking the home team with a shooting display highlighted by four three-pointers in that searing stretch, including a rare four-point play that sent the Cebuanos into a frenzy.
Ethan Alvano also closed out the second with nine straight points, capping off his compelling duel with Wolf Warriors world import, Mike Taylor, with a booming three-pointer — the last of the team’s nine in the second — that gave the Alab Pilipinas the huge halftime lead.
Mike Bell and Chen Cai led the Wolf Warriors in scoring with 20 markers apiece. Taylor had 19 while the team’s other world import, former NBA draft pick Eddy Curry, put in 14. /bjo