ASEAN Basketball League honors Philippine Patriots

The Philippine Patriots, who bagged the inaugural ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) crown last month, were presented with their rings during a Championship Dinner held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Tuesday.

Two Patriots also received special awards from Southeast Asia’s first professional regional sports league, the ABL Web site reported.

Jason Dixon was named the Best ABL Import while Warren Ybañez got the ABL Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. The ABL League MVP was Attaporn Lertmalaiporn of the Thailand Tigers.

The Championship Presentation Dinner, which capped off ABL’s inaugural season, took place at The Gardens Hotel.

It recognized the basketball supremacy of the Patriots, who won over Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma, 3-0, in the best-of-five finals series. They bagged the ABL title last February 21.

The Satria Muda BritAma members, meantime, received their silver medals during the event.

The ABL said it is looking to expand the number of teams for its second season which begins in October.

The league’s first season was composed of 6 teams: Philippine Patriots, Thailand Tigers, Satria Muda BritAma, Malaysia’s KL Dragons, Brunei Barracudas and Singapore Slingers.