Philippine ballclub Zamboanga Valientes finished the Singapore leg of the 2023 ABL Invitationals with a hard-earned 87-79 triumph over the host Slingers, Sunday evening at the OCBC Arena.
The Valientes recovered from an early 11-point deficit and turned the game around in the second half to come away with their second win of the Singapore leg.
They end the Singapore circuit with a 2-2 win-loss record, before returning to action in Batam, Indonesia on Friday.
Antonio Hester led the way for the Valientes with 28 points on a superb 11-of-15 clip, on top of 10 rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Ryan Smith added 15 points and 13 rebounds, while veteran Rudy Lingganay contributed 14 points.
Smith sparked a 10-2 run midway through the final quarter that turned a slim five-point lead into a double-digit spread, 82-69, with just 2:28 to play in the game. The Zamboanga lead ballooned to 15 points, 87-72, with 1:16 to go off a Lingganay triple and a Smith jumper.
Kentrell Barkley had 29 points and 11 rebounds for Singapore, while Chanceler Gettys also came up with a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double. Xavier Alexander was one rebound shy of a triple-double, with 11 points, 11 assists, and nine boards.
However, Singapore shot just 36% from the field, and allowed Zamboanga to make 51% of their field goals.
Singapore ended its home leg with a 2-2 win-loss record. Leading the way in the ABL Invitationals are Hong Kong Eastern and Saigon Heat, both of which finished with 4-0 slates.
The scores:
ZAMBOANGA 87 — Hester 28, Smith 15, Lingganay 14, Kwekuteye 9, Arthur 8, Chan 5, Amores 5, Bernardo 3, Cawaling 0, Carino 0.
SINGAPORE 79 — Barkley 29, Gettys 19, Goh 12, Alexander 11, Helzer 3, Liew 3, Lim 2, Mah 0.
Quarters: 20-28, 47-49, 67-61, 87-79.
