HK moves the Philippines closer to elimination

By Adrian Stewart Co

The Hong Kong Eastern basketball team recently pushed San Miguel Alab Pilipinas closer to elimination after scoring a 90-88 upset in Game 1 of their 2019 ASEAN Basketball League best-of-three quarterfinal series at the Hoops Dome in Lapu Lapu City, Cebu. The Philippines is now in a must-win situation with Game 2 set for tomorrow in Hong Kong.

After losing their last four matches, Alab Pilipinas looked good early on and went up by as much as 15 points but HK came up with a strong run to come to within 66-63.

Both teams exchanged leads in the fourth quarter until the visitors surged to a 90-86 advantage with under a minute left; although, the Philippines cut the deficit to 90-88 on an inside hit by Renaldo Balkman off a bullet pass by Peter John Ramos.

In the next sequence, Hong Kong turned the ball over, giving the Philippines side a chance to win it or force the game into overtime but Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. failed to offer up a decent attempt in the final 13 seconds.

O’Darien Bassett, who drained the go-ahead basket with 29.6 seconds left, earned 29 points, seven assists, and four rebounds for the Hong Kong side; while Marcus Elliott and Michael Holyfield scored 22 and 14 markers, respectively.

Balkman finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists for the Philippines, while Ramos tallied 17 points and seven rebounds./ASC, WDJ