Patriots bow to BritAma, absorb 3rd straight ABL loss

Playing with a depleted line-up, the Philippine Patriots absorbed their third straight setback, losing to Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma, 78-82, in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) Season 2 at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta over the weekend. It was the longest losing skid for the Patriots in the history of this two-year-old league. They dropped to a share of second to third places with the Kuala Lumpur Dragons at a 6-4 card apiece. Playing with only one import, veteran FIBA Asia Championship campaigner Rashiem Wright, the Patriots managed to grab a 74-73 lead. But the BritAma flexed their muscles down the stretch to notch their third win in 11 games. The Chang Thailand Slammers kept their hold of the solo lead, beating the Singapore Slingers, 77-66, in the other game. The Slammers improved their record to 8-2. Donald Little, the Patriots’ other reinforcement, was released by the PHL 5 for his failure to impress the squad. Without Little, the Patriots banked on Wright, who also struggled against the defense of BritAma. The rest of the Patriots’ frontliners also couldn’t contain 6-foot-9 BritAma slotman Marcus Morrison, who finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds. “It's really hard playing against a team with two tall imports. Our players gave their best and we had our chances, but luck was not on our side in the endgame," said team manager Erick Arejola. Down 76-79, the Patriots had a chance to equalize, but Wright bungled a wide-open three-point attempt. Also helping BritAma’s free-flowing offense was Filipino Kiko Adriano, who chipped in 20 markers. Jun Jun Cabatu and Pari Llagas led the Patriots with 14 points each, while Wright was held to just eight points on a horrible 3-of-17 shooting from the field, including 1 of 8 from the three-point zone. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV