Alab suffers meltdown, falls to Standhardinger-led HK Eastern anew

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino word “alab” means to inflame or kindle. But for Tanduay Alab Pilipinas, they’re doing the exact opposite.

The Filipinos continued to set things ablaze, crumbled late and fell to defending champion Hong Kong Eastern, 96-99, for their third straight defeat in the ASEAN Basketball League at the Southorn Stadium, Hong Kong Wednesday night.

It was also Alab’s second defeat to the reigning titlists after absorbing an 89-92 setback in their first duel on November 19 right at its home turf at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

And once again, it was Fil-German Christian Standhardinger, this year’s top PBA rookie pick, who dealt his countrymen one of the biggest blows with 25 points, including a pair of painful dagger 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and topped his effort with 12 rebounds and four assists.

Thai-Am Tyler Lamb exploded with a career-high 32 points highlighted with five booming triples to help Standhardinger seal Alab’s doom.

Like in their first showdown, Hong Kong waited in bated breath as Alab, trailing by three points with 11 seconds to go, had a chance to knot the count and force overtime but Josh Urbiztondo missed a wide open three-point attempt.

It was a classic case of different venues but same results.

And again, Alab couldn’t live up to its name.

The defeat further sent the Filipinos at the bottom of this nine-time league and would need to shake things up for them to climb out of the rut.

In contrast, Hong Kong zoomed to the solo lead with a pristine 5-0 (win-loss) record.

Alab will have a chance to nail its very first win as it visits the Formosa Dreamers at the Changhua Stadium, in Changhua City, Chinese Taipei Saturday.

It was another heartbreaking finish for Alab as it came out on attack mode and more the aggressor and leading approaching the final canto.

It was not to be again as the Standhardinger-Lamb duo stood on the Filipinos’ way.

Ivan Johnson paced Alab with 32 points and nine boards while Reggie Okosa finished with 25 points and 13 caroms.

The scores

HONG KONG EASTERN 99 – Lamb 32, Standhardinger 25, Elliott 20, Lee 12, Moss 6, Xu 2, Tang 2, Lau 0

TANDUAY ALAB PILIPINAS 96 – Johnson 32, Okosa 25, Urbiztondo 14, Parks Jr. 11, Celiz 6, Hontiveros 3, Sumalinog 3, Domingo 2, Javelona 0, Maierhofer 0

QUARTER SCORES: 20-23, 43-46, 64-66, 99-96