MANILA, Philippines — The AirAsia-Philippine Patriots go for the homecourt advantage in the semifinals when they take on budding rivals Westports KL Dragons this Sunday in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Out to gain their bearings after a stinging 83-76 double overtime loss to the Chang Thailand Slammers in Bangkok, the Patriots try to improve on their 8-5 slate when they battle the Dragons at 6 p.m in a game that will be shown live on ESPN.

In what coach Louie Alas calls this match as a “knockout game for the No. 2 spot,” the team co-owned by Mikee Romero and Tony Boy Cojuangco hopes to capitalize on the Malaysians' stunning 93-90 setback to the Singapore Slingers last Wednesday.

KL, which dropped to 7-6, blew a 13-point fourth quarter lead as the Slingers rallied to escape with the victory.

But the Patriots will have to improve from their disappointing defeat to the Thai cagers, who notched the top spot after that win.

“We struggled during the endgame,” said Alas. “It seems that most of the team didn't want to shoot the ball so this time we really need to be consistent not only on defense but also on offense.”

Alas is banking on backstop imports Gabe Freeman and Steve Thomas and top local scorer Egay Billones with Warren Ybaez and Chito Jaime expected to be among those will be tapped as the Dragons.

The PH cagers will not only watch out for American center Nakiea Miller, Filipino imports Patrick Cabahug and Rudy Lingganay, and locals John Ng and Batumalai Guganeswaran, but also new reinforcement Justin Leich.

Jonas Terrado, Manila Bulletin