68:83 

    Wednesday May 9th 2012, Tip off 7pm local time, Tan Binh Stadium, Vietnam

The San Miguel Beermen stayed hot heading into the AirAsia ABL Playoffs. The Beermen’s defense proved to be too much for hosts Saigon Heat as the Beermen closed their regular season with an 83-68 win over the Heat. With this win, the Beermen have won 12 of their last 13 games plus finishing the regular season to hold the best record in the league at 17 wins and 4 lossses. 

Nick Fazekas came up big for the Beermen once again as he finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Leo Avenido had 15 points and Duke Crews added 12 points for the Beermen. 

The Heat had a 36-30 lead with 3:07 left in the second quarter on a Rob Sanz’s three-pointer which forced the Beermen to call a time out and had the Tan Binh Stadium rocking. Off the timeout, Beermen quickly scored 6 straight points capped by a dunk by Fazekas to make it 36 all with 1:50 left before halftime. 

Beermen started to pull away at the end of the third quarter. A follow up by Fazekas off a Norman Gonzales’ miss started an 8-0 run for the Beermen at the end of the third quarter. An alley-oop dunk by Crews and a free throw by Chris Banchero stretched the Beermen’s lead to 64-51 going into the fourth quarter. The Heat was held to only 10 points in the third quarter. 

Fazekas sealed the game for the Beermen with a baseline hook shot that give the Beermen a 75-57 lead, then Banchero hit two-free throws to give Beermen their biggest lead in the game at 77-57 with 2:45 left. 

Beermen’s coach Bobby Parks credited his team’s defense for the win. “We did not play great tonight but our defense helped us win the game,” said Coach Parks after the game. “We are going straight back to work when we get back to Manila. We have to get ready for the playoffs right away.” 

Jonathan Jones finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat who will play their last game against Bangkok Cobras at Chulalongkorn University on Sunday May 13th. Rob Sanz and Jahmar Thorpe added 11 points each for the Heat. 

Even though the Heat did not have a chance to make it to the playoffs, Tan Binh Stadium was still sold out and the fans were still in full support for their favorite team. “I can’t say enough about allthese fans. They are very great and they are the best fans in the world,” said Coach Rabedeaux. “We are looking forward to next season and I would like to wish good luck to all the four teams competing in the playoffs. They are all very good and well-coached teams.” 

Heat: Jonathan Jones – 25 points, Rob Sanz – 11 points, Jahmar Thorpe – 11 points, Minh Trieu – 9 points, John Smith – 7 points, Duong Nguyen – 5 points.

Beermen: Nick Fazekas – 24 points, Leo Avenido – 15 points, Duke Crews – 12 points, Rogelio Yap – 10 points, Froilan Baguion – 7 points, Chris Banchero – 5 points, Benedict Fernandez – 2 points, John Ferriols – 2 points, Jun Cabatu – 2 points, Norman Gonzales – 2 points, Junemar Fajardo – 2 points.