San Miguel looks to continue winning run

LEO AVENIDO and the rest of the San Miguel Beermen will try to keep their winning run going today as they battle the visiting Saigon Heat in the Asean Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Avenido scorched the nets with 33 points in leading the Beermen to an 86-78 win over the Bangkok Cobras at the latter’s home floor at the Chulalongkorn University.

Dalron Johnson added 20 points in Sunday’s win, which gave the Beermen a solid grip of second place in the standings with a 10-3 (win-loss) record. It was also their fifth straight win.

The former stalwart from Far Eastern University fell just three points shy of his career high of 36, which he made while playing for the Singapore Slingers last season.

Avenido is now the leading scorer among local players in the league with 14.62 points per game.

More than their efforts on offense, the Beermen have also been working hard on the defensive end of the floor as they have held their opponents to a paltry 72.6 points per outing during the sizzling stretch.

During their first meeting at Tan Binh Stadium, the Beermen were no match for the Heat as San Miguel blew out the Heat 85-62 led by Johnson’s double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds.

The Heat are coming into this matchup off a tough 68-72 loss at home to the Indonesia Warriors.  Correspondent Jonas Panerio