US Professional Basketball Players Alumni VS Westports Malaysia Dragons & ABL All Stars
The US Professional Basketball Alumni, bannered by former NBA Stars Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Mitch Richmond, and Dennis ‘The Worm’ Rodman, and the Westports Malaysia Dragons, reinforced by players from different teams in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), kept their promise and gave the fans an entertaining show at Stadium Malawati in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Former Chicago Bull Scottie Pippen and company had a big second half to beat the Dragons 96-81 at the final buzzer.
““I like all the Dragons players,” said US PBAA’s Guard Jason Williams after the game. Williams had the fans on their feet for the last three minutes of the game when he showcased his dribbling and passing skills. The climax was when Williams did his signature behind the back off the elbow pass to Pippen for a dunk. “Scottie told me that he was trailing behind me so it was the perfect time to do it,” said Williams referring to the amazing pass.
Williams finished with 16 points in the game, while Scottie Pippen added 12 points for the US PBAA, who built a big lead in the third to get the comfortable 15 point win.
The Dragons put up a formidable fight and the game was very competitive in the first half. Dragons’ sharpshooter Satyaseelan Kuppusamy had a great start and made two quick three pointers. John Ng als shocked the fans when he made a shot from almost half court with the 20 seconds remaining in the shot clock. “I thought the shot clock was about to expire, that’s why I launched that shot,” said Ng. The Dragons’ also received a big lift from Kwaan Yoong Jing who displayed his scoring ability to keep the Dragons in the game. The Dragons were only down by 2 points, 39-41 at halftime.
In a show of regional solidarity, the Dragons played last night’s game with the help of a few other familiar faces from the ASEAN Basketball League. This quintet of special ASEAN imports included the current ABL Champions Indonesia Warriors’ Mario Wuysang, the AirAsia Philippine Patriots’ Rob Wainwright, Ratdech Kruatiwa from the Bangkok Cobras, Desmond Oh of the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers, and Attaporn Lertmalaiporn of Chang Thailand Slammers.
The US PBAA players showed their competition experience and stepped up their game in the third quarter and dominated the Dragons. The fans cheers were resounding in the third quarter as Dennis Rodman made two three-point shots to spark a big run by the US PBAA. Chris Campbell also had a big third quarter and torched the Dragons with his explosive plays.
Slingers’ Desmond Oh driving past former Chicago Bulls’ Dennis Rodman
Even though the Dragons were not able to beat the US PBAA squad, all the players were thrilled to have a chance to play against their basketball heroes. “I was very happy and excited to be on the same court with all these great legends. I felt like a little kid when I was on court earlier on,” said Mario Wuysang after the game.
