KUALA LUMPUR — The Kuala Lumpur Dragons put up a spirited fight in the first three quarters but eventually folded up when the Philippine Patriots tightened up on their defenses as the short-handed Filipinos pulled off a 73-63 win in the ASEAN Basketball League at the MABA Stadium here last Sunday.

The Patriots’suffocating defense in the final period paid off handsomely as they eventually solved the Dragons’ effective attack that handed the KL squad an 8-point lead in the third period after outscoring the Patriots, 25-14.

A full court trapping formation in the final frame, however, turned things around for the visiting squad as the Patriots limited the Dragons to just nine points the rest of the way to claim their third straight victory.

“I told the boys before the start of the fourth to be relentless in defense because our opponents apparently looked tired,” said Patriots coach Louie Alas, whose squad made a huge follow-up to their 70-53 win over the erstwhile unbeaten Singapore Slingers last week. “And they did just that and they came out very aggressive.”

The Patriots, who improved their card to 4-1 for solo second, typified their solid defense with a tall but quick line-up of Americans Brandon Powell, Jason Dixon, new recruit John Alcaraz, Nonoy Baclao and Rob Wainwright holding the Dragons scoreless in the last 2:35.

While giving the Dragons no room to operate at one end, the Patriots did not forget to light it up on the other end.

Dixon and Powell provided the telling blows as both imports combined for the 12 of the team’s 18 fourth quarter output.

“Medyo nagkompyansa kami kaya medyo nahirapan,” said Alas, whose squad dropped the Dragons to 2-4. “We also got no-calls in some crucial moments of the game.”

RP PATRIOTS 73 — Powell 17, Dixon 17, Ybañez 8, Baclao 8, Baguion 7, Espiritu 6, Acuna 5, Wainwright 3, Daa 2, Sta. Maria 0, Mirza 0.
KL DRAGONS 63 — Kuete 13, Lingganay 10, Hugnatan 10, Loh 9, Batumalai 9, Bandaying 6, Wee 3, Chee 2, Koh 1, Ho 0, Chai 0, Brown 0.
Quarters: 19-13, 34-31, 48-54, 73-63.