Alab mauls CLS for last dash to semis

PNA photo

STA. ROSA, Laguna — Alab Pilipinas closed out its campaign in the 2018 ABL regular season with a bang, dealing CLS a 101-63 beating at the Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Sports Complex on Sunday night.

Alab quickly opened a huge advantage and also quickly extinguished any run from the Knights as they enter the playoffs with a 14-6 record.

Following a close battle at the start, Alab went on a 9-0 run to open a 22-9 advantage late in the first quarter.

CLS had a 7-2 run of its own to cut the lead down to eight, 24-16, later in the first.

Alab then went on a 14-2 run spanning through the second period to go up by 16, 34-18.

The Knights still put up a fight midway through the second as they cut the lead down to nine, 39-30, with 4:38 left in the period.

However, Alab closed out the first half with 17 unanswered points for a 56-30 halftime edge and never looked back, even stretching the lead to as high as 38.

Pamboy Raymundo came off the bench to go for 20 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from long range with three rebounds and two assists for Alab, which can still enter the semifinals outright depending on the result of the Eastern-Nanhai game in the final game of the eliminations on Wednesday night.

Ray-Ray Parks went 9-for-12 from the field for 19 points before taking the rest for good late in the third quarter.

Pao Javelona made a double-double of 18 points on four triples and 10 rebounds with four assists, two steals, and one block.

Shane Edwards made 21 markers, seven boards, one block, and one steal for CLS, which ended its own campaign at 6-14.

Box Scores:

Alab Pilipinas 101-Raymundo 20, Parks 19, Javelona 18, Balkman 11, Brownlee 11, Domingo 10, Alabanza 6, Sumalinog 2, Maierhofer 2, Hontiveros 2

CLS 63-Edwards 21, Williams 17, Nugroho 4, Lish 4, Enguio 4, Gemilang 4, Kurniawan 3, Hidayat 2, Ardiansyah 0, Baskoro 0, Utomo 0

Quarterscores: 28-18, 56-30, 78-53, 101-63