A collective defensive effort from Team Macau and another triple-double game for Xavier Alexander allowed the Black Bears and the Aces to score contrasting victories in The Asian Tournament at the City of Passi in Iloilo Wednesday night.
The visitors from Macau came out as spoilers against the home squad as they came back from 17 points down behind key defensive adjustments in the second half.
By the start of the third, the Black Bears were able to overcome the 22-39 deficit and continue to put more pressure in the fourth period when they held the Titans to just eight points in the fourth period to reverse the outcome and complete a come-from-behind 89-75 victory.
So tight was the defense of Macau it even forced Passi to a spate of turnovers. The Black Bears scored 24 turnover points, nine more than their rivals.
On offense, Macau banked on the rock-solid game inside of Seny Pathe Ndyiaye and the prolific shooting of Jenning Leung and Brandon Matano in scoring that big win,
Ndyiaye had a solid double-double game of 21 points and 15 boards and his steady inside presence was complemented by the remarkable three-point shooting of Leung and Matano, who both hit six treys apiece
Leung tallied 25 markers while Matano contributed 17.
Macau’s solid game on both ends of the court nearly overshadowed another triple-double performance from the X-Man — Xavier Alexander.
The 36-year-old veteran swingman completed yet another triple-double performance in leading The Aces to a 103-84 triumph over the Kalmado Islanders.
With the leadership at stake, the Aces turned to Alexander for guidance once more and the import responded by making everybody on the team look good. His stats line did much of the talking as he came away with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 18 assists, but most importantly carried the impact of his all-around game to the rest of his teammates.
Six other players wound up with at least twin-digit scores with Emmanuel Ojuola finishing with a double-double performance of 15 points and 14 rebounds. Oleksandr Kolchenko tallied 14 markers while Monbert Arong and Denzel Wong scattered 12 points apiece. Due Lacastesantos and Alfren Gayosa added 10 each for The Aces, who now improved to 3-0 and remained spotless after three days of competition.
The Aces’ fast-pace game was on high gear as they outscored their rivals on fastbreak points, 34-16, while also producing 36 points coming off the Islanders’ total 30 turnovers.
Bench production was also a big factor for The Aces, whose second unit outplayed their counterparts, 56-32.
Loong Lions winless no more as undermanned Dragons prevail
Guangzhou Loong Lions finally cracked the win column on Wednesday, this after the squad got a big lift from import Jordan Jamal Lewis, who erupted for 44 points and flirted with a near quadruple-double performance.
Aside from pouring in his best offensive game in this leg, Lewis also grabbed nine rebounds, dished out eight assists and completed seven steals in a brilliant, all-around performance.
Lewis also got solid backing from four other players — Tianrun Gao, Chenshou Wang, Guanqi Chen, and Biajia Yao.
Gao contributed 16 points, while Wang and Chen added 12 apiece. Yao tallied 10 for the Loong Lions, who scored 31 points coming off the Whales’ turnovers.
The Black Dragons of Vanta relied on their Elite Eight, who came out ready to perform to deliver a tough 82-78 win over the Fresh Kicks Gamu Wildcats.
Outrebounded and undermanned, the Dragons found the resolve to fight back by forcing their rivals to a spate of turnovers to negate their deficiency in manpower.
The Dragons scored 27 turnover points from the 15 miscues of the Wildcats, which proved to be the deciding factor in notching their second straight win.
Julius Hannibal led the way with 19 points and pulled down six rebounds. Team captain Tyrell Jabar Corbin added 17 markers to go along with seven rebounds and six assists while James Lin contributed 16.
Hong Bo Qu chipped in 12 and Adrian Partosa submitted 11 markers for the Dragons, whose bench players outscored their counterparts, 27-11.
Qu and Corbin sandwiched the Dragons’ two defensive stops with four free throws in the last 34 seconds to seal the team’s victory
