PETALING JAYA: Asean Basketball League outfit KL Dragons hung on to the fourth and last spot for the playoffs as Philippine Patriots denied Brunei Barracudas – Dragons closest challenger – a place by winning 87-65 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Manila yesterday.

Before yesterday’s match, Barracudas were two points behind Dragons on 20 points with Dragons having played all 15 of their matches.

If Barracudas had beaten league leaders Patriots they would have pipped Dragons for the last playoffs spot.

On Saturday, Dragons won their final league match against Satria Muda BritAma of Indonesia 70-67 at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta.

It was their first win over the Indonesians in three meetings. Satria Muda took the previous two matches 91-67 and 69-57.

	click the preview image to view full size (photos courtesy of KL Dragons)

Although Dragons were victorious in the match, it was not until yesterday after the Patriots-Barracudas match that Dragons coach Goh Cheng Huat started his celebrations.

“On paper, Patriots have the clear advantage over Barracudas but we still need to wait until the final buzzer to know our fate.

“I’m very happy that we’ve qualified for the playoffs and where we go from there would be a bonus to us,” said Cheng Huat.

Dragons will accompany Patriots, second placed Singapore Slingers and third placed Satria Muda in the playoffs beginning on Jan 31 for the League title.

Barracudas remain in fifth place while Thailand Tigers are at the bottom of the six-team league.

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