Heat Escape Manila With Win Over Beermen

Saturday 24^th March 2012, Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig City, Philippines – Saigon Heat escaped from Manila with a huge 66-63 win over San Miguel Beermen. Froilan Baguion had a chance to send the game to overtime but missed an important corner three-point shot at the buzzer.

Heat’s Jahmar Thorpe led all scoring with 24 points and 11 rebounds while Jonathan Jones added 19 points. Dalron Johnson and Leo Avenido recorded 17 points each for the Beermen.

The game was tied at 63 after Froilan Baguion hit a three-point shot with 1:08 left in the game. The Beermen then had a chance to take the lead but Leo Avenido missed a lay-up.

Down 63-64, the Beermen had two chances to take the lead but Jarrid Famous was unable to finish under the rim andthen Baguion missed a running shot.

To make matter worse, Jonathan Jones was then fouled almost immediately after. Although Jones was only able to make one out of two from the line the Beermen were not able to grab the rebound and instead was forced to foul Sanz who grabbed the offensive rebound.

Robert Sanz missed both of his free throws but once again the Beermen were unable to secure the rebound and Thorpe, who has been good in the clutch for the Heat calmly hit two big free throws to make it 66-63, securing the win for his team.

“I’m so proud and happy for our guys. They did a great job today and this is a very big win for us.” said coach Jason Rabedeaux after the game.

With this win, the Heat has snapped Beermen’s five game winning streak although this is only the Beermen’s fourth loss this season. Beermen’s other big man Jarrid Famous did not put up big numbers in this game and only finished with 6 points and 5 rebounds.

Both teams will have the Indonesia Warriors for their next match-ups. The Beermen will travel to Mahaka Square in Jakarta, Indonesia on Saturday the 31^st of March to face the Indonesia Warriors. The Heat will have 10 days of restbefore the Indonesia Warriors visit the Tan Binh Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Wednesday the 4^th of April.

Beermen: Dalron Johnson – 17pts, Leo Avenido – 17pts, Froilan Baguion – 8pts, John Ferriols – 8pts, Jarrid Famous – 6pts, Aries Dimaunahan – 3pts, Roger Yap – 2pts, Junmar Fajardo – 2pts.

Heat: Jahmar Thorpe – 24pts, Jonathan Jones – 19pts, John Smith – 7pts, Robert Sanz – 6pts, Noy Javier – 5pts, Minh Trieu – 5pts.