Alab eyes 5th straight win

CEBU, Philippines —  Can San Miguel Alab Pilipinas score its fifth straight win without a loss? Can Renaldo Balkman and PJ Ramos dominate anew with their double-double ways? Can Jimmy Alapag score his first-ever win in Cebu as a head coach? Find out tonight as San Miguel Alab Pilipinas faces the Zuhai Wolf Warriors of China in the ASEAN Basketball League at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City.

Balkman and Ramos, who are averaging in double figures, have been at the forefront of Alab Pilipinas’s hot 4-0 start. Balkman leads the team in scoring with 27 points per game, fourth best in the league.  He also norms 14.7 rebounds per game.

Ramos is second best in the team in point production with 21.8 per game, while Bobby Ray Parks averages 12.8 a night.

Still perfect in four games, Alab Pilipinas will be taking on the struggling Warriors that have won only once in nine games and is at the tail end with a 1-8 record. After opening with a 0-7 record, the Warriors finally got their first win after outlasting the CSL Knights of Indonesia, 96-88 on December 19.

 Cai Chen leads the Warriors with 17.8 points per contest, while Eric Tisby adds 16 per night. Mike Bell also averages 15.7 points per game but leads the team with 12.0 rebounds per contest.

Although the Wolf Warriors are at the bottom of the team standings, Alab Pilipinas Coach Jimmy Alapag isn’t taking things for granted, stressing that the China-based team recently replaced all its three imports.

He also stressed that Alab is more than just the show of the imports with the presence of ABL MVP Parks, the playmaking of Ethan Alvano and Josh Urbiztondo, Lawrence Domingo and Caelan Tiongson (whose father hails from Cebu). The other members of the team include Tomas Torres, Pao Javelona, Prince Rivero, Brandon Rosser and Cebuano Oping Sumalinog (who’s still nursing an injury).

The Hoops Dome home game is the first-ever home game for Alab Pilipinas in the ABL.

It’s also part of a busy four-game schedule for the ABL, which will also have the Western Malaysia Dragons vs. Hong Kong Eastern, Formosa Dreamers vs. Singapore Slingers and Saigon Heat vs. Mono Vampire games on the same day.

Tickets for the historic match are priced at P500 for the lower box and P300 for the upper box. Gates will open at 5:45pm.