Zamboanga Valientes out of semis race in ABL Invitational

MANILA, Philippines — Zamboanga fell short to Singapore, 97-87, in a virtual knockout tiff and crashed out of contention in the 2023 ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) Invitationals at the Nguyen Du Stadium in Vietnam.

The Valientes only needed a win to book the last semifinal ticket but they fumbled the golden chance owing to a second-half meltdown, finishing at fifth place with a 7-7 card. Singapore climbed to 9-5.

Zamboanga previously defeated Singapore, 87-79, in the first round and a sweep could have set the stage for its outright Final Four entry due to a tiebreak win with identical 8-6 cards.

But the Philippine representative ran out of steam bridging the third and fourth quarter, allowing a 13-2 Singapore spurt for a 74-85 deficit from a 72-all count.

That spelled the telling tale in the close duel as Renaldo Balkman’s 25 points and 11 rebounds went for naught in his first loss with the team. NBA veteran Mario Chalmers added 19 while Jeremy Arthur (16) and James Kwekuteye (14) chipped in help.

Balkman, following his stint with Strong Group in Dubai, came in as replacement import of Antonio Hester – who’s already with Magnolia in the PBA – and helped Zamboanga carve two crucial wins against Indonesia’s Louvre Surabaya and Hong Kong Eastern.

Zamboanga trounced Surabaya, 83-69, and pulled off a 71-65 squeaker over Hong Kong to stay alive in the semis race with Singapore.

The Slingers joined Vietnam’s Saigon Heat, Malaysia’s NS Matrix ang Hong Kong Eastern in the Final Four of ABL’s return after a long hiatus due to the pandemic.