Patriots defeats KL Dragons, 76-70

The Philippine Patriots came through with the needed break in the fourth quarter to squeeze past the KL Dragons, 76-70, Saturday and get back on the winning track in the ASEAN Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

In a game that saw nine deadlocks and 12 lead changes, the Patriots even trailed by seven points in the second quarter but worked their way up to a two-point lead with less than two minutes left in the contest.

Warren Ybañez then boomed with a triple with 1:43 left and the Patriots got the breathing room they needed, 71-66.

The win was a big lift for the Patriots who absorbed a devastating setback from the Brunei Barracudas last week.

It was the eighth win in 10 outings for the Patriots, who moved closer to the top spot in the best-of-three semifinals.

“The toughest thing to do is to come back from a devastating loss. But luckily, our players performed well,” said Patriots coach Louie Alas, whose team will meet the Barracudas again on Monday.

Maligned for a forgetful three-point performance in their embarrassing 70-95 loss to the Barracudas, Powell took the challenge of Alas with gusto pumping in a season-best 20 points, 13 in the first half, on 8-of-14 shooting to lead the Patriots.

“I told him (Powell) that it was a very lousy game and he should be matured and play as a man and I’m glad he bounced back,” Alas said.

Powell’s compatriot, 6-foot-10 Jason Dixon, notched his seventh consecutive double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds while guards Jaypee Alcaraz and Ybanez hit 11 points each while combining for seven assists.

Nonoy Baclao, who missed last week's game after leading Ateneo to the Philippine Collegiate Champions League title, finished with eight points, three rebounds and two blocks off the bench.

Cameroonian Chris Kuete delivered 19 points and nine rebounds, American Jamal Brown had 15 points while Filipino import Rudy Lingganay added 13 pointsfor the Dragons, who fell to 4-6.

RP PATRIOTS 76 — Powell 20, Dixon 15, Alcaraz 11, Ybanez 11, Baguion 9, Baclao 8, Wainwright 2, Gaco 0, Raneses 0, Coronel 0, Acuña 0, Espiritu 0.

KL DRAGONS 70 — Kuete 19, Brown 15, Lingganay 13, Hugnatan 8, Chee 5, Batumalai 3, Loh 3, Kow 2, Wee 2, Bandaying 0, Chai 0.

Quarters: 21-21, 38-37, 55-54, 74-70.