Phl Patriots defuse Heat for 3rd win

MANILA, Philippines - The AirAsia Philippine Patriots overcame poor rebounding as they turned back the visiting Saigon Heat, 76-62, last night in the third AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

“We gave up too many offensive rebounds, it’s fortunate we won,” said Patriots coach Glen Capacio as they scored their second straight win for 3-1 overall, good for provisional second place in the standings, while dealing expansion team Heat their fourth successive setback.

The Patriots lost the battle off the boards, 34-44, giving away 18 offensive boards to the Heat, obviously hurt by the absence of center Aldrech Ramos (sprained ankle).

“I don’t know if they were just overconfident playing against a team that hasn’t won yet. But perhaps they saw during the game that they couldn’t take it easy (against the Heat) and the good thing was, in the second half, they reacted to what the opponent was doing,” said Capacio.

After seizing double-digit spreads, the Patriots allowed the Heat to get back into the game, at 42-all, and the Vietnamese club even threatened to within five, 60-65, with still three minutes left.

The Patriots used that as a wakeup call to get down to business again, with Anthony Johnson (23 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks) and Nakiea Miller (20 points, 12 rebounds) joining forces in an 11-0 spurt that secured it for the hosts in the game presented by PG Flex Linoleum.