Gabriel Freeman torched Satria Muda for 39 points, leading the Patriots to a 78-68 victory at the Ynares Arena, Manila.
The win gives the Patriots a valuable 1-0 lead in this best-of-five series and puts them just two wins away from claiming the inaugural ABL championship.
However, Satria Muda can take great heart from their performance and if they can make the right adjustments before game two on Wednesday night, then the series could yet be alive. In order to do so though, they are going to have to find a way to negate the wily Freeman and coach Fictor Roring will have his work cut out for him to find a defensive scheme that can limit the Patriots high-flying import.
Patriots-Satria Muda video highlights
Freeman accounted for half of his team's total output starting like a man on a mission with 15 points alone in the first quarter, doing his damage from all parts of the floor.
In total contrast, Satria Muda's top scorer Alex Hartman struggled all night with the defensive attention being put on him by the home side.
Hartman finished with 12 points and will most definitely look to be more assertive on the offensive end in game 2, something he will need to do if his side are to have any chance of upsetting the deep Patriots team.
Satria Muda played the entire first half utilizing a zone defence which the Patriots made them pay for with some crisp passing and deadly shooting from beyond the arc forcing coach Roring to make the necessary adjustments in the second half.
To the credit of the Satria Muda side, never once did they let their heads drop and after going into halftime just seven points down, they came out in the third quarter keen to make amends, firing on all cylinders while dragging themselves back into the game.
Down 48-41, the Indonesians started the third quarter with an 11-0 run, spearheaded by their center Nakiea Miller who scored 7 points in that impressive run to grab a four point lead at 52-48.
But once again it was Freeman who would stop the rot with a 3-point play and from then on, it was the Patriots all the way as Satria Muda wilted in the fourth quarter.
Freeman was ably supported by his import counterpart Jason Dixon who was a menace inside the paint all night, cancelling out the effectiveness of Miller at the other end.
As we head into crucial game two, both coaches will have their adjustments to make. Coach Roring will be cooking up a defensive scheme to limit the effectiveness of Freeman while Louis Alas will be hoping to get more of his local players involved to take some pressure away from his import duo.
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