San Miguel turns back patriots

THE SAN MIGUEL Beermen got right back on track after their opening day loss as they trounced the AirAsia Philippine Patriots, 78-70, in the Asean Basketball League late Saturday evening at the Ynares Sports Arena.

The Beermen leaned on 6-foot-9 import Dalron Johnson, who produced a solid all-around performance. He finished in double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds – not to mention his defenswive effort in limiting Patriots import Nakiea Miller.

Johnson also had three assists and two blocks to help the Beermen recover from a humbling 83-77 overtime loss to the Westports Malaysia Dragons last week in Kuala Lumpur.

New import Doug Thomas,  Leo Avenido, Cebuano behemoth June Mar Fajardo and Benedict Fernandez also produced significant numbers to beat the Patriots – the same team they beat in the pre-season tournament in Bangkok last month.

Thomas, who replaced erratic Richard Jeter, had 14 points and six rebounds in his debut./Correspondent Jonas Panerio

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