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Billones sparks Patriots' 3rd ABL triumph


BRUNEI -- Egay Billones came through with clutch baskets as the Philippine Patriots outlasted the Brunei Barracudas in overtime, 72-67, in the AirAsia Asean Basketball League Season at the Brunei Indoor Stadium here. Billones dropped seven of his 14 points in the extra period to help the Patriots notch their third straight win despite missing their two imports Donald Little and Anthony Johnson in some stretches. The 6-foot-10 Little fouled out with 3:45 in the extra period with the Patriots protecting a slim 65-61 lead. Johnson missed the game as he's still recuperating from a hamstring injury. The win shoved the Filipinos into a tie with the vastly-improving Chang Thailand Slammers, who scored a convincing 84-63 win over Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma. Without Little, who finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, Billones took over the scoring slack, banging in five straight points, including a triple that gave the Filipinos a 70-67 lead, 1:42 left. Brunei's Fil-Am import Ramsey Williams had a chance to bring his team closer, but his layup rimmed out in the next play. Warren Ybanez’s charities off a Williams foul with 3.6 ticks left sealed the victory for the Patriots. “I expected him (Billones) to take over because he had already helped me win two titles here in Brunei," said Patriots coach Louie Alas, referring to the 1999 Southeast Asian Games and the 1997 SEABA 22-and-under crowns. Jun-Jun Cabatu played another solid game for the Patriots, finishing with 16 points, including a triple with 7.1 ticks left in regulation that sent the game to overtime. Cabatu’s triple was a fitting sequel to his heroics in the team’s 62-59 win over the Singapore Slingers last Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig. “I’m very satisfied with the locals because they really carried the team in the final four minutes," Alas said. The RP Patriots actually looked headed for a pull-away win after erecting a 55-45 lead at the start of the fourth. But the Barracudas wiped out the deficit behind Filipino imports Chester Tolomia and Bryan Faundo and American Chris Garnett and Cris Commons, who conspired with one big play after another and managed to put Brunei on top, 61-58, 13.3 ticks left in regulation. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV
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