Pinoy import lifts Dragons past Patriots

MANILA, Philippines - The Westports KL Dragons banked on one of their Filipino imports to beat the AirAsia-Philippine Patriots, 96-81, in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League Season 2 at MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last Sunday.

Former UAAP hotshot Patrick Cabahug hit all his four triples in the first half where the Dragons built double-digit leads which they used as a springboard to notch their fifth victory against four wins for a share of third with the Singapore Slingers.

The hosts led by as many as 26 points in a tense-filled match marred by four altercations that nearly sparked a free-for-all in the third quarter. Patriots’ Warren Ybanez was hit by a bottled mineral water thrown onto the court and the Dragons swooped down on the erratic Patriots, who reeled to their second straight loss after losing to the Thailand Slammers at home last week.

The Patriots fell to 6-3, leaving the Slammers on top with a 7-2 mark.

Imports Nakiea Miller and Alex Hartmann, who both played for Satria Muda BritAma of Indonesia last season, wound up with 24 and 20 points, respectively, with the former hauling down 19 rebounds and making six blocks before fouling out.

Patriots import Rasheim Wright bounced back from a disappointing seven-point output against the Slammers, finishing with 31 points, four rebounds and two steals. He shot 5-of-8 from the three-point zone but failed to get the needed support from the rest of the team.

The closest the PHL cagers got was 12-19 on a Benedict Fernandez layup with 2:32 to go in the first period before the Dragons raced away with their near-impeccable shooting.

“They (KL) shot well from the outside and we somehow failed to gain enough momentum to come back,” said coach Bogs Adornado, who took over from the flu-stricken head coach Louie Alas.

Donald Little, the Patriots’ other import, had 16 points and 11 rebounds but was held to just six points in the second half.

Malaysia’s other Filipino imports Rudy Lingganay had nine points and three rebounds while Angel Raymundo finished with seven points and six boards.