Patriots take on Indonesians Saturday

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Patriots resume their campaign in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) Season 2 as they host the Satria Muda BritAma of Indonesia side on Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The match, set at 8 p.m., serves as some sort of a break for the Patriots, who are coming off a gruelling campaign on the road, including their 54-48 victory over the Chang Thailand Slammers in Bangkok last weekend that stretched their win run to four.

“This will be a good chance for the boys to relax a bit. It was a tough two weeks for us,” said RP Patriots team manager Erick Arejola. “The game on Saturday will give our boys the benefit of a long rest.”

The weeklong break also gives Anthony Johnson time to recover after re-injuring his hamstring in the Patriots’ last game.

“That’s important to us, especially for AJ (Johnson). It’s very taxing to move from one country to another,” said Patriots coach Louie Alas. “He actually felt the pain after the game and he’s being checked by Dr. (Raul) Canlas to see if there’s a need for him to rest.”

Held to just five points in the first three quarters, Johnson scored eight points in the last 3:36 minutes, including a triple as the Patriots completed another stirring come-from-behind win in a duel of the leaders.

The RP-Indonesia game will also be the first this season after the two teams clashed for the inaugural crown early this year.

But while the Patriots poised for another crack at the crown, the Indons have struggled with one win to show in four games.