Indonesia forces do-or-die vs SMB
The Indonesia Warriors rained on the parade of the San Miguel Beermen as they forced the best-of-three finals series to a deciding Game 3 after they routed the latter, 81-61, in Game 2 in the Asean Basketball League yesterday at the Mahaka Square in Indonesia.
With their backs against the wall, the Warriors showed focus and intensity as they gained some headway in the second canto and blew the game wide open in the third period with a 12-2 run that established a 21-point lead.
Import Evan Brock led the way for the Warriors with 24 points and 16 rebounds.
The game was close in the first as Indonesia led by just one, 24-23, thanks to the 10 markers that was scored by lithe Filipino-American guard Stanley Pringle.
The Warriors found their range as Cebuano guard Jerick Canada scored on a trey that pushed them on top, 40-28, before they settled for a 42-33 lead at halftime.
Things heated up in the second half with another Cebuano guard, SMB’s Roger Yap, incurring an unsportsmanlike foul for hitting Canada at the back of the head off a hard pick.
The Warriors responded with aplomb after that incident as they went on that deciding run highlighted by a thunderous slam by Brock and three-point play by Steve Thomas that gave them a 21-point bulge, 64-43.
Though the Beermen crept to within 15 after six straight points at the end of the third, the Warriors refused to get frazzled as they kept their composure and maintained the lead until the final buzzer.
“[We] Got beat by a team that wanted it more. We got outhustled, outplayed. Lost our aggressiveness. Close out games are always the toughest,” tweeted SMB team manager Noli Eala.
Game 3 will be played on Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
