Beermen rip Patriots in physical game

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Beermen outlasted AirAsia Phl Patriots in an emotionally-charged, fight-marred third AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) showdown, 68-66, to repeat over the former champion and snap its six-game winning streak at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Beermen got a huge lift from Leo Avenido, who led with 17 points, including two clutch free throws, plus a key defensive stop and a timely offensive rebound in the last 43 seconds as SMB survived the physical contest that saw two players get ejected and both teams rush to the court during the melee.

Beermen’s Aries Dimaunahan and Patriots’ import Anthony Johnson were slapped with disqualifying fouls after figuring in the fight at the 1:16 of the third quarter. Dimaunahan gave a driving Johnson a clothesline, after which the Patriots import placed the SMB guard in a headlock, triggering a bench-clearing brawl that saw some punches and kicks thrown. Both teams were slapped technical fouls for leaving the bench.

“I knew it’s going to be a tough match; I didn’t know it’s going to go as far as both benches almost clearing but it was a real competitive game and I think the difference in our team today is our defense,” said SMB coach Bobby Parks, whose wards moved half a game behind the Patriots (7-2), who remained at the top of the standing tied with Malaysia Dragons. 

Parks took the referees to task for the melee.

“Officiating was bad. I think what happened was they let it get out of hand. I think they’re trying to let them play a loose game but if calling it one way like fouls for one player and not the same foul on another player, the players’ temper tend to flare up,” he said.

Pouncing on Johnson’s absence on the floor, SMB unloaded a 7-0 blast to start the fourth period and take a 56-54 lead, and then the two teams fought neck-and-neck in the final stretch of the Patriots’ home game presented by PG Flex Linoleum.

Avenido drew a pushing foul from Jonathan Fernandez off a rebound play following a missed triple by Nakiea Miller then canned both freebies for a 65-63 cushion. Back on defense, he forced Reed Juntilla to lose the ball then grabbed his own miss at the other end to lead the way to a split free throw by Frolian Baguion, 66-63, 13.7 seconds left in the contest.

“Leo is a true pro. He’s one of those guys like if you’re going to send your man to battle, you’d want Leo to go because he’s a true warrior,” said Parks.

Glenn Capacio, coach of the Patriots team owned by Mikee Romero and Tony Boy Cojuangco, looked at the positives from the loss.

“Even though we lost this game, I’m happy pa rin for the locals. Nag-step up sila even though wala si AJ (Johnson). May chance pa rin na manalo down the stretch, breaks of the game lang,” said Capacio, keeping his fingers crossed that Johnson (14 points) will escape suspension in their next outing.

“I hope we can bounce back like before. In the first round, we lost to San Miguel but we won six straight games after that,” he added.

The scores:

San Miguel Beermen 68 – Avenido 17, Johnson 14, Famous 13, Baguion 6, Ferriols 5, Rizada 5, Dimaunahan 3, Fernandez 3, Cabatu 2, Fajardo 0, Gonzales 0.

AirAsia Phl Patriots 66 – Miller 16, Johnson 14, Laure 12, Vergara 9, Raymundo 4, Fernandez 3, Juntilla 3, Larong 3, Wainwright 2, Ybanez 0, Ramos 0, Rodriguez 0.

Quarterscores: 11-15, 32-26, 49-54, 68-66