Game Saturday (Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig City)

6 p.m. San Miguel Beer vs AirAsia PH Patriots


KUALA LUMPUR – The Westports Malaysia Dragons gave the debuting San Miguel Beermen a rude welcome in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League.

Behind the clutch plays of Filipino imports Nic Belasco and Chris Pacana in overtime, the Dragons turned back the Beermen Sundat, 83-77, in their inaugural game before a jampacked crowd at the MABA Stadium here.

Pacana, the former St. Francis of Assisi stalwart, and Belasco, a 13-year veteran in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), each had four points in the extra period where the Dragons outscored one of the league’s newest expansion teams, 10-4.

Former Talk ‘N Text import Tiras Wade finished with a game-high 28 points, including two pressure-packed free throws in the final 22 seconds of regulation that sent the game into overtime, 73-73.

Fellow American import Brian Williams had a monster game of 26 points and 23 rebounds for the host team, which gave Filipino mentor Ariel Vanguardia his first win as a full-time coach of the Dragons after serving as an assistant on the bench last season.         It was a heartbreaking loss for San Miguel, which enjoyed as much as a 45-35 lead in the third quarter behind the big guns of import Richard Jeter.

But with Wade and Williams at the firing end, the Dragons rallied their way back and erased a 69-73 deficit inside the final minute to forge overtime play.

Dalron Johson paced San Miguel with 17 points, but only scored six in the second half and overtime combined.

Jeter added 11, while promising big man JunMar Fajardo had eight points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes of play.

But Fajardo and Jeter both muffed a pair of free throws in overtime, enabling the Dragons to seize control for good.

Badly missed by San Miguel was highly-touted Fil-Am guard Chris Banchero, who suffered a hamstring injury and didn’t suit up for the team.

In the other game, defending champion Chang Thailand Slammers kicked off their title retention bid on a high note by routing expansion squad Saigon Heat, 78-58, in Bangkok.


The scores

Malaysia (83) — Wade 28, Williams 26, Pacana 7, Belasco 6, Kuppusamy 5, Cabahug 4, Loh 4, Batumalai 3, Chee 0.

San Miguel (77) — Johnson 17, Jeter 11, Fajardo 8, Fernandez 8, de la Pena 6, Baguion 6, Avenido 6, Cabatu 6, Rizada 5, Basco 4, Luanzon 0.

Quarters: 23-25; 35-42; 59-57; 73-73 (Reg); 83-77 (OT).