Inaugural ASEAN Basketball League kicks off

Satria Muda BritAma 67 – 75 Philippine Patriots

Saturday, 10 October 2009, Jakarta – Today saw the inaugural match of the ASEAN Basketball League take place at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta as Satria Muda BritAma went up against Philippine Patriots in a very close match.

In a hard fought game that went down the wire the visiting Patriots edged Satria Muda 75 to 67. American Brandon Powell top scored for the Patriots with 18 points while Faisal Achmad Julius led the Satria Muda assault with 16 points.

The exciting game was shown regionally over ESPN and was played in front of a crowd of about 3,000 raucous fans.

Dato Sri Tony Fernandes, Chairman of the ABL as well as Group Chief Executive Officer of regional airline Air Asia was looking forward to today – “Today is a great day for basketball in the ASEAN region as we see the ASEAN Basketball League come to life with two basketball giants going up against each other.”

“It was a great exciting game that also delivered on the entertainment front. It has been a great journey here and after a year of preparation this a fantastic start to our fledgling league that we hope will grow into the future of sports and entertainment in the region.