JEREMIAH Gray rescued San Miguel Alab Pilipinas from a massive collapse as the Philippine side eased past Hong Kong Eastern, 77-76, on Thursday in the 2020 ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) at Southorn Stadium.
The Fil-Am guard made the crucial stop by blocking Jon Siu's potential game-winning three from the left corner, saving the Philippine side from what would have been an epic collapse after nearly blowing a 19-point edge.
Nick King topscored with 24 points and seven rebounds as new reinforcement Prince Williams debuted with 14 points on 3-of-4 shooting, to go with six boards and four assists in the win that improved Alab's record to 6-3 (win-loss).
Alab will go back home to face Mono Vampire on Sunday at the Caloocan Sports Center.
Alab looked poised to run away with the game, taking a 45-30 halftime lead and even expanding that advantage to 19 points, 49-30, early in the third quarter.
But Hong Kong Eastern used a 30-point third period to fight back, setting up the tight finish.
King scored the go-ahead bucket with 1:07 left, but almost threw the game away after his bad inbounds pass to Williams gave the ball back to the hosts.
Lucky for Alab, Gray had the defensive nose for the ball to salvage the game for the Filipinos.
Gray finished with 10 points, five boards, five dimes, and three blocks.
Sam Deguara also towered over the competition with his 12 points and seven rebounds, as Jason Brickman set the offense up with 16 assists on top of his two points.
Brandis Raley-Ross topscored for Hong Kong with a near triple-double performance of 33 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists in the defeat that brought them down to 3-5.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL ALAB PILIPINAS 77 -- King 24, Williams 14, Deguara 12, Gray 11, Vigil 5, Heading 3, Brickman 2, Domingo 2, Rosser 2, Caracut 0.
HONG KONG EASTERN 76 -- Raley-Ross 33, Costner 19, Holyfield 13, Siu 8, Guinchard 2, Ng 1, Xu 0.
Quarters: 23-14, 45-30, 63-60, 77-76.
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