Alab scorches Mono Vampire to clinch ABL crown

SANTA ROSA, Laguna – "B and B"'s performance has towed Alab Pilipinas to yet another victory.

Only on Wednesday night at the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex, it was for the biggest and brightest prize in the 2018 Asean Basketball League. The home crew made mincemeat of the visiting Mono Vampire Basketball Club, 102-92, and end their hotly-contest skirmish in five games. 

That’s it! Alab Pilipinas wins it all after a 102-92 decision over Mono Vampire! #ABL8Finals @StarSportsHub @PhilstarNews @PhilippineStar pic.twitter.com/5mElZdGOgY

— Denison Rey Dalupang (@sonrd) May 2, 2018

Behind Ranaldo Balkman, Alab ignited a 14-4 run to dictate the tempo. The Thai squad tried to play catch up but they simply had no answer as soon as Justin Brownlee kicked up the scoring barrage.

In that first half, Balkman poured 21 of his total 32 points, eclipsing the resilient stand by Mono imports Mike Singletary, Sam Deguara and Paul Zamar.

Mono managed to cut the lead to just five but Brownlee's all-around effort in the second half rubbed off on his teammates. The beloved foreign reinforcement finished with 24 markers, 12 boards and nine dimes.

"First I’d like to just give my respect to the Mono Vampire team, coach Douglas Marty and all of the guys there. That was a very, very good team that we played against. They really took one of our best efforts of the season to pull out this win tonight," Alab mentor Jimmy Alapag said.

"Just really proud of our guys. We came out ready to battle, ready to fight, right from the opening minute. I think that really set the tone for us the rest of the game. Cant say enough about this guy (Ray), battled through foul trouble but still was in there, defending a great point guard like Jason Brickman," he added.

Local Most Valuable Player Ray Parks Jr. (13 points), Lawrence Domingo (9), Pamboy Raymundo (9) and Pao Javelona (7) all made their presence most felt in that third frame where Alab managed to widen the gap by as many as 25 points.

Parks was named Finals MVP after scripting performance adorned with four assists, two rebounds devoid of turnovers.

The homegrown Parks, who is projected to enter the PBA draft this year, normed 22.4 markers, 5.6 boards, and 3.6 dimes in the best-of-three skirmish.

Mono drew 32 points from Singletary, 24 from the towering Deguara, and 19 from Zamar. But those were only the significant numbers they had against an Alab squad boosted by a venue filled to the rafters in a winner-take-all joust.

"[I]t wasn’t so pretty early on. I thank you guys for staying on board and just being with us," Alapag closed.