ANTONIO Hester came alive in the fourth quarter as he powered Zamboanga Valientes to a 108-94 stunner over Louvre Surabaya on Wednesday in the Singapore Circuit of the 2023 ABL Invitational at OCBC Arena in Singapore.
The former Terrafirma import exploded for 16 points in the fourth quarter. He led a 15-2 run that turned an 87-83 deficit with five minutes to play to an imposing 98-89 Valientes lead with 3:02 left.
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Hester finished with 35 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, and three assists as the rest of the Valientes rode on his wings and earned their breakthrough win in the regional league.
It was also a triumphant basketball comeback for John Amores, who got a new lease on life in Zamboanga after his punching spree in the NCAA back in November.
The former Jose Rizal University winger produced 16 points built on two treys, on top of five boards and two steals as he served as a big spark off the bench for the Valientes in an impressive international debut.
Fil-Am forward Jeremy Arthur added 21 points, seven boards, six dimes, and five steals, while American reinforcement Ryan Smith had a solid double-double of 18 points, 16 rebounds, to go with his four steals and three blocks.
The Valientes made an amazing turnaround after trailing by nine, 74-65, entering the payoff period, staging a huge 43-point fourth quarter outburst to stun their Indonesian foes.
Zamboanga missed the services of San Beda guard James Kwekuteye in the affair with the Fil-Canadian guard in street clothes for the leg opener.
The Valientes will try to go 2-0 in this circuit when they play the Saigon Heat on Friday.
Marcus Hammonds led Surabaya with 32 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while Alioune Tew saw his monster double-double effort of 24 points and 22 rebounds go down the drain with this loss.
Fil-Indonesian Biboy Enguio wound up with 14 points but commited six of Louvre's 27 turnovers in the contest.
The Scores:
ZAMBOANGA 108 -- Hester 35, Arthur 21, Smith 18, Amores 16, Lingganay 6, Carino 2, Cawaling 2, Cadiz 2, Jumao-as 2, Chan 2, Bernardo 2, Belorio 0.
LOUVRE 94 -- Hammonds 32, Tew 23, Enguio 14, Johnson 12, Tuasela 4, Pratama 3, Da Silva 3, Pelmelay 2, Gunawan 0, Saputra 0, Islamy 0.
Quarters: 19-24, 39-46, 65-74, 108-74.
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