Alab cools down against Macau !-- -- John Bryan Ulanday (The Philippine Star) - January 7, 2020 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines Erstwhile streaking Alab Pilipinas had an off night as it suffered a stinging 98-93 home loss against the Macau Wolf Warriors in the resumption of the ASEAN Basketball League over the weekend at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan. Then riding high on a four-game winning streak, the Nationals struggled from the field, hitting a poor 26-percent clip in absorbing its first loss since the season opener.

The Philippine representative, which is backed by San Miguel Corp., fell to 4-2 but still remained in second spot behind pacesetting Mono Vampire with 5-1 slate.

ABL Player of the Month Nick King was the only bright note for the Jimmy Alapag-mentored squad with 33 markers, 12 rebounds and four assists as the rest of the squad found it hard to rediscover their form after a two-week Christmas break. Still, the host team managed to pose a threat against the hungry Macau side and even squeaked by with a 91-90 lead off King's freebies with under three minutes left.

However, that proved to be the last stand of Alab as Macau went on a searing 8-0 windup to seal the deal at 98-91 in the last minute behind the tandem of world imports Julian Boyd and Doug Herring. Alab's other reinforcement, Khalif Wyatt, was limited to just 15 points as big man Sam Deguara bled for four markers and seven rebounds.

Only Lawrence Domingo and Jeremiah Gray contributed from the local side with 11 and 10, respectively. Macau, which improved to 3-4, was led by Herring and Boyd with 21 points each in this huge revenge win after a 114-110 loss to Alab in their first outing.

Alab will try to bounce back against Fubon Braves at the same venue today while Macau shoots for second straight win against Formosa Dreamers tomorrow.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan