ABL: Beermen cruise to win over slumping Dragons

Duke Crews, Nick Fazekas and Leo Avenido contributed the bulk of the points for the San Miguel Beermen to get back at the Westports Malaysia Dragons, 92-76, Sunday night in Kuala Lumpur for their seventh win in their last eight games in the ASEAN Basketball League.

Crews topscored with 29 points while Fazekas, playing in his first game with the Beermen, had 26 points. Avenido led the locals with 15 as the Beermen improved to a second-best 12-4 win-loss card.

It marked the first time that the Beermen defeated the Dragons this season after losing their first two games against the Malaysian team earlier this year.

The Beermen now gear up for their third and final match-up of the regular season with the league-leading AirAsia Philippine Patriots on April 14 at the Ynares Sports Arena. The Patriots are on top with a 13-2 but have not won against the Beermen this season.

The Dragons extended their losing slump to six games but remained in third place with a 7-8 record.

The Beermen pulled ahead outscoring the Dragons, 22-14, in the second quarter for a 42-35 halftime lead.

San Miguel increased the gap further in the third period with a 28-19 advantage to enter the fourth holding a 70-54 edge.

Fazekas, who was tabbed to replace Jarrid Famous after his stint with the Petron Blaze Boosters in the PBA, also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds in his debut game in the ABL.

Not even the return of Tiras Wade after a two-game absence due to a hamstring injury and the addition of former Indonesia Warriors player Jonathan Smith to the Dragons’ roster couldn’t stop the Beermen, who took a 77-56 lead on an Avenido triple in the fourth which turned out to be the highest margin in the game.

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