San Miguel-Tanduay Alab Pilipinas notch their first ABL championship, and the country's first trophy since 2013 behind the heroics of its two world imports Renaldo Balkman and Justin Brownlee who combined for more than half of the team's tally.
Balkman had a game-high 32 points along with 9 rebounds and 6 assists while Brownlee flirted with yet another triple double in the Finals with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists in their 102-92 do-or-die series clincher agains Thai side Mono Vampire at the Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Coliseum.
Season MVP Bobby Ray Parks Jr. meanwhile also copped the Finals MVP plum with averages of 22.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists.
"It's incredbile, I can't be more thankful for these guys. This team has been resilient since the start of the season. They've stayed commited and stayed focused," said Alab head coach Jimmy Alapag after the game who enjoyed his first ever championship as head coach.
"Mono's a great team, they have a great coach, great imports in Mike (Singletary), of course a great point guard in Jason Brickman and (Paul) Zamar," added Jimmy as Singletary paced Mono with 32 points and 8 rebounds, 7"5' Center Sam Deguara pitched in 24, while Zamar added 19 points to carry the load as Brickman only had nine points and six assists in 37 minutes.
Alab Pilipinas turned their season around after going 0-3 at the start of the season to give the Philippines its first ABL championship since the Leo Austria-led San Miguel Beermen won the championship in 2013.
