The Philippine Patriots go for their seventh straight win when they meet the Brunei Barracudas for the first time this Sunday in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) at the Brunei Indoor Stadium in Bandar Seri Begawan.
After splitting their first two games of the season, the Patriots, co-owned by Harbour Centre boss Mikee Romero and businessman Tonyboy Cojuangco, went on a roll, winning their last six games, including back-to-back wins at home against Thailand and Indonesia, respectively.
In their previous match, the Patriots defeated Satria Muda BritAma, 81-69, behind the stellar performance of 6-foot-10 American import Jason Dixon, who posted his fourth straight double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds.
It was the fourth straight double-double effort for Dixon, who was struggling through the first few games of the fledging six-nation tournament before putting his game to a notch higher.
“I’m glad Jason (Dixon) is playing well in our previous games,” said coach Louie Alas.
However, Alas is worried that the absence of his two defensive weapons in Nonoy Baclao and Elmer Espiritu could hinder their performance against the Barracudas, who are coming off an impressive 80-63 win over the Kuala Lumpur Dragons last Wednesday.
Baclao will not play nor be in the oil-rich nation as he will be suiting up for Ateneo in the deciding third game for the Philippine Collegiate Champions League crown against upset-hungry Far Eastern University.
Espiritu, meanwhile, suffered a broken cheek bone after he got hit a rough screen by BritAma’s 6-foot-9 lanky import Nakiea Miller during the dying seconds of the second quarter of last week’s action.
“They are my two of my best defensive players, but we’ll try to remedy it,” said Alas.
Game Sunday (Brunei Indoor Stadium)
4 p.m. — Brunei Barracudas vs RP Patriots
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