MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Tanduay Alab Pilipinas slipped past the pesky CLS Knights, 92-87, on Saturday, January 20, at GOR Kertajaya in Surabaya, Indonesia. 

After trailing by as much as 15 points in the first quarter, the CLS Knights rallied back to stay within reach of the Filipino club. Alab Pilipinas managed to find ways to stay ahead.

Dondon Hontiveros put up quality minutes in the final quarter by chipping in 5 points and aiding the team in limiting the Knights’ offense. Alab Pilipinas managed to lock down the Knights and rebuilt the lead as the game closed out.

Justin Brownlee set a season-high of 36 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals. Renaldo Balkman recorded a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Bobby Ray Parks Jr, battling a knee injury, still managed to tally 14 points. 

Brian Williams recorded a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds for the CLS Knights. Sandy Kurniawan went hot from beyond the arc as he sank 5-of-10 3-pointers. 

Brownlee led Alab in the first quarter as he tallied 18 points in that quarter alone. Parks and Josh Urbiztondo sank a total of 3 triples in the first to contribute to the high-scoring first period of Alab Pilipinas. 

At the start of the second period, Frederick Lish immediately ignited the Knights’ 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 4 points (31-27). As the Knights continued their hot start, they were able to nab the lead via 3 straight triples by Kurniawan and Arif Hidayat (40-38). 

The CLS Knights started to cool down after Alab Pilipinas head coach Jimmy Alapag called for a timeout at the 3:54 mark of the second quarter. Paul Maierhofer tied the score at 42-all and left the closing out duties to Brownlee and Balkman. 

Brownlee opened the second half with a 4-0 start. The Knights closed in on Alab once again and won back the lead via a layup by Williams (55-54). Urbiztondo answered back with a triple that gave the lead back to Alab Pilipinas, making up for his earlier bad pass that sailed out of bounds. 

The game was brought back to a tie as Hidayat buried a triple with 27 seconds left in the third quarter. Balkman scooped in a layup with 5 seconds left that allowed Aalb to lead by 2 points heading into the final frame. 

Alab Pilipinas improved their record to 5-4 while the CLS Knight fall to a 1-7 record in the ASEAN Basketball League.

The Scores

Alab (92) – Brownlee 36, Balkman 17, Parks 14, Urbiztondo 11, Maierhofer 6, Hontiveros 5, Sumalinog 2, Raymundo 1, Domingo 0, Celiz 0, Javelona 0, Alabanza 0. 

CLS (87) – Williams 22, Kurniawan 19, Wuysang 17, Jones 11, Lish 9, Hidayat 9, Utomo 0, Nugroho 0, Baskoro 0, Saroni 0, Ardiansyah 0, Wisnu 0. 

Quarter Scores: 29-18, 48-44, 69-67, 92-87. 

 – Rappler.com