Indonesia upsets SMB to win series, ABL title

The Indonesia Warriors broke the hearts of the San Miguel Beermen and their faithful as they came in and snatched the championship in the 3rd Asean Basketball League after winning Game 3, 78-76, yesterday at the packed Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Stanley Pringle shredded the defense of the Beermen to lead Indonesia with 28 points and eight rebounds as the Warriors continued the trend of teams winning the title on the road in the ABL.

The Warriors led most of the way and headed to the fourth period ahead by 11 points, 64-53.

They continued to remain in front by 12, 71-59, after a three-pointer and a freethrow by  Pringle when the Beermen refused to give up and came as close as two points in several occasions.

Indonesia proved to have the steadier hand as Evan Brock, who earlier in this match had been miserable from the freethrow line, started to make his shots from the charity stripe and made four straight that sealed the win for the Warriors.

The Warriors appeared to be hungrier team all throughout the game as they established leads of 10 on two occasions in the second period before settling for a 38-33 lead at halftime.

The third period saw the Warriors continue to puncture the defense of San Miguel, with Amin Prihantono making a trey at the end of the third for a 64-53 lead.

The Beermen were on the verge of a comeback early in the fourth as Duke Crews was fouled at the 7:01 mark and made the basket. However, referee Brandon Hogan waved the basket off, much to the dismay of the SMB bench. Hogan also called a technical foul on the bench of San Miguel.