San Miguel Alab Pilipinas, Mono Vampire start title series

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Alab Pilipinas and Mono Vampire, with its 7-foot-5 behemoth Sam Deguara, begin their ABL best-of-five title series tonight at the Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

The third seed and the fourth seed that scored a pair of reversals against No. 2 Hong Kong Eastern and No. 1 Chong Son Kung Fu, respectively, SM Alab and Mono Vampire figure in a first ABL finals in six years pitting teams from the Philippines and Thailand.

In 2011, the Chang Thailand Slammers beat AirAsia Philippine Patriots for the crown.

San Miguel Beer was another team from the Philippines that ruled the league in 2013 before Hi-Tech Bangkok City bagged the ABL championship in 2014.

Thus, both SM Alab and Mono Vampire eye a third crown for their respective countries.

“The goal is to win the championship, nothing less,” said Renaldo Balkman, on line to achieve something that he missed in his stint with the San Miguel Beer team in the PBA.