MANILA, Philippines – Tanduay Alab Pilipinas earned their 3rd straight victory in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) by besting the Singapore Slingers in overtime, 89-80, on Sunday, January 7, at the OCBC Arena in Singapore. 

After being tied at 75-all via a 4-point play by Han Bin Ng in the 4th quarter, Robby Celiz buried a three with 50.2 seconds left in the game to lead by 3, 78-75. Slingers import Chris Charles then kicked out the ball to Alfred Mandani who drained the game-tying triple with 9 seconds left in the game, and the game headed into overtime. 

Justin Brownlee’s and Renaldo Balkman’s heroics led Alab Pilipinas on a 6-0 run and managed to limit the Slingers to only two points in the overtime period. 

Balkman topscored fo Alab as he notched 26 points, 8 rebounds and two assists, while Brownlee followed with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. 

In their last meeting, Alab struggled against the Xavier Alexander-led team, losing 83-97.

While Alab has been enjoying the services of Balkman and Brownlee, the Slingers debuted their own new import, two-time World Import MVP Chris Charles, a former Blackwater Elite import in the PBA. The 7-foot center has become the league’s all-time leader in blocks with 259, as well as the single-season record holder with 96 rejections, earning him Defensive Player of the Year honors twice in the ABL. 

Alab Pilipinas was able to pull the lead away to as many as 10 points via the 3-point shots of Josh Urbiztondo and Dondon Hontiveros. Alab started to meltdown in the last 1:16 of the second quarter as the Slingers limited Philippines’ offense and tied the game at 36-all by halftime. 

The second half saw Singapore get off to a strong 8-0 start, punctuated by Charles’s dunk at the 8:53 mark of the third quarter. Balkman scored 6 straight points and Domingo’s layup capped it off to take back the lead, 55-54, with 3:07 left in the third period. 

Alab Pilipinas improved their standing to 3-3 while the Singapore Slingers skid down to 2-4.

Alab Pilipinas will face the Singapore Slingers again at home on Wednesday, January 10, 8 pm at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Scores:

Alab Pilipinas (89) – Balkman 26, Brownlee 17, Parks 11, Domingo 9, Urbiztondo 8, Raymundo 8, Hontiveros 3, Celiz 3, Sumalinog 2, Maierhofer 2, Javelona 0, Alabanza 0. 

Singapore Slingers (80) – Charles 22, Ng 15, Mandani 13, Low 10, Alexander 10, Goh 9, Liew 1, Oh 0, Folkoff 0, Kwek 0, Lim 0, Tay 0.  

Quarter Scores: 21-17, 36-36, 63-60, 78-78, 89-80 (OT). – Rappler.com