MANILA — New league, same old Justin Brownlee.
As if he is still playing for Ginebra, Brownlee blasted off for Alab Pilipinas, dropping 29 points in a near triple-double performance to lead the team to a 90-79 win over Malaysia in the first ABL game for 2018 at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City on Wednesday night.
Alab, however, needed a fourth quarter breakaway as the Dragons overcame a slow start and even came close to silencing the pro-Alab crowd on the road.
Alab came out smoking right at the tip-off, opening a 20-7 lead late in the first quarter.
Malaysia, however, slowly crawled back to the game and took the lead, 63-60, late in the third period.
Alab finally broke away for good with a 14-0 run spanning through the final canto, even stretching the lead to as high as 16 late in the period.
Brownlee also had eight assists, seven rebounds, three steals, and two blocks, while fellow world import Renaldo Balkman added 17 markers, 11 boards, one dime, four steals, and two blocks for his own impressive debut for Alab, which moved up to 2-3.
Joshua Munzon made his return to the Dragons’ lineup and tallied 21 points, nine caroms, two assists, and one steal, but that went for naught as they fell to 1-3.