PHL Patriots nip Satria Muda in ABL opener

JAKARTA , Indonesia - It was a day of firsts and the Philippine Patriots made sure to be a huge part of it. The Asean Basketball League (ABL) tipped off Saturday at the Britama Arena here with the Patriots chalking up the first basket en route to the first victory in the tournament.

Robert Wainwright logged two records in one shot, hitting a three-pointer for the league’s first-ever basket and triple in helping the Patriots clinch a 76-69 win over Indonesian club Satria Muda Britama. The Fil-Am forward actually drained two consecutive treys to spark the Philippine club’s campaign, but it took a while before somebody helped fan the flames and the Patriots got caught in a see-saw battle with the host squad until finally getting into the rhythm in the second half. Both sides struggled with the way the referees handled the match—with handchecks and excess steps getting either too little or too much attention—and American journeyman Jason Dixon got caught in the confusion and was assessed two fouls in a span of four and a half minutes. That meant huge adjustments so early for coaches Bogs Adornado and Ryan Dy. But it showed the flexibility and readiness of the squad that was assembled barely six weeks before tipoff, with Mark Andaya somehow ably filling in the void, a trio of guards calling the plays and a host of role players doing their jobs pretty well. Froilan Baguion, Christian Coronel and Warren Ybañez took turns running the plays as the Patriots slowly got into the groove, taking control after being separated from the Indonesian side by merely a hairline in the first two quarters. And with Wainwright teaming up with former Florida Gator forward Brandon Powell in scoring, the Patriots held the upperhand for most of the last 20 minutes of play. Alexander Hartman led the way as Satria Muda led, 17-16, and the home side matched pace with the Patriots, who were up, 33-32, at halftime. The Philippine Patriots later caught fire, leading by as many as 13 points, 67-54, in the final frame before a late surge by Satria Muda on a triple by Filipino guard Rensy Bajar and four straight points by local Julius Faisal trimmed the gap to just three, 67-70, with just 40.8 seconds remaining. To the chagrin of the home crowd, it was their team that absorbed the first-ever loss in the league, as Ybañez and Baguion doused cold water on their fiery run with three points from the stripe and Powell hitting an insurance basket to make it 75-67. Powell scored 18 points while playing tough defense to limit Hartman to just 13 and Wainright finished with 15. Scoring sporadically but still being an imposing figure in the paint, Dixon managed to come up with 11 points. Faisal led the Indonesian side with 16 points while import Theo Little had 13 and Bajar, who shockingly had an exchange of harsh words with fellow Filipino players and some officials over some physical play, finished with 11. Baguion finished with eight points followed by Erwin Sta. Maria with six and Christian Coronel with five. “It’s the first game but I told them to treat it like their last, just like a championship game," said Adornado, who together with Dy handled the job sans head coach Louie Alas, whose Letran Knights are still in the hunt for the title in the ongoing NCAA wars. “Fortunately, they responded. Everybody delivered." The Patriots again play on the road against the Singapore Slingers this weekend in the first home-and-away cage league in the region. - GMANews.TV