The Patriots brought their A-grade game Wednesday at the MABA Stadium to upstage the Kuala Lumpur Dragons, 95-92, and complete a sweep of their best-of-three semifinals series.

Import Steve Thomas and Gabe Freeman carried the fight anew for the Patriots, but Egay Billones, Benedict Fernandez and Chito Jaime provided timely contributions to keep their team’s title retention bid alive.

The Patriots await the winner of the Chang Thailand Slammers-Singapore Slingers series in the other semis pair.

The Slammers took Game 1 with an 81-76 victory on Monday in Bangkok.

Thomas, former import of the Air21 Express in the PBA, finished with 20 points and 19 rebounds.

Freeman, on the other hand, bucked three early fouls in the first quarter and came away with 17 points and 11 boards. The two-time PBA Best Import nearly came to blows with Dragons' Er Kheng Lau in the third period before cooler heads prevented things from going out of hand.

Billones set up Freeman for a thunderous slam by bouncing the ball off the backboard. The highlight play gave the Filipinos an early 18-9 lead. The Patriots led by as high as 11 points, 74-63, in the third quarter.

But the Dragons, behind Pinoy gunner Patrick Cabahug, came back to life in the fourth.

The former Adamson University standout hit a triple inside the final-minute mark to shove the Dragons within striking distance, 89-91.

But Fernandez, who finished with 13 points, played the fireman’s role as he hit a trey from the corner to take the fight out of the Dragons.

Rey Joble, GMA News TV