Patriots buck loss of imports, outlast Slingers in 2 OTs

No imports, no problem for the Philippine Patriots in the Asean Basketball League. The Patriots bucked the absence of their two imports and came back from a 19-point deficit to pull the rug from under the Singapore Slingers in double overtime, 87-85, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium over the weekend. Without imports Rasheim Wright and Donald Little in the two extra periods, Egay Billones presided over his team’s offense. The spitfire guard scored all of his nine points in the last five minutes as the Filipinos bounced back from a stunning defeat to the Brunei Barracudas last week. "I told them to be patient, to just keep on playing," said Patriots coach Louie Alas after the defending champions kept the solo lead with a 6-1 record. "Playing against [Singapore's] two giant imports is not an easy task, so I told them to play doubly hard. The locals played very, very well. It was a gallant stand." Wright, who joined the Patriots Wednesday as replacement for the injured Anthony Johnson, debuted with a team-high 22 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals. But the new reinforcement suffered a harmstring injury and was sidelined in the two extra periods. Little, who fouled out with 2:29 minutes left in the fourth quarter, finished with 10 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Billones scored six of the Patriots first seven points in the second overtime, including a jumper at the 1:59 mark that put his team on the driver’s seat, 82-80. A Harold Sta. Cruz basket kept the Patriots up, 84-82, before Billones' three free throws in the last 10.5 seconds sealed the victory. Allan Salangsang, who kept the Patriots afloat in the first extra period, led the locals with 12 points. Chito Jaime added 11 markers and Jun-Jun Cabatu contributed 10 points and six rebounds to help the Patriots rally from as much as 19 points down, 10-29, in the second quarter. The Patriots opened the third quarter with a 15-5 run, capped by three straight triples from Salangsang, Jaime and Wright that cut the deficit to four, 41-45, from a 26-40 halftime gap. With the locals stepping up, the Patriots grabbed the lead for the first time, 58-55, after a 9-2 spurt at the start of the fourth quarter. - RCJ/KY, GMANews.TV