PETALING JAYA: The Westports Malaysia Dragons overcame a poor first quarter to beat Saigon Heat 90-69 at the Asean Basketball League (ABL) Hoops Fest in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday.

The Dragons came into the match high on confidence after having scored a convincing 75-56 win over Jobstreet.com Singapore Slingers last week.

But they were without prolific forward Sammy Monroe (pic) and it showed early on as the Heat took a 22-12 lead in the opening quarter.

But the Dragons fired back to cut the lead to just 38-37 by half-time.

And the Dragons, led by an inspired Gavin Edwards, turned the game around in the third quarter to lead 63-53.

They kept up their impressive offence and eventually trooped off with a fairly comfortable win in the end.

Edwards led the scoring with 25 points and 11 rebounds followed by new signing Marcus Hubbard with 14 points.

Young shooting guard Loh Shee Fai made the most of Patrick Cabahug’s injury to score 12 points for the Dragons.

The Heat responded through David Palmer, who had 16 points, and Jai Reyes’ 14-point contribution.

In other matches, defending champions Indonesia Warriors defeated Chang Thailand Slammers 74-67 while San Miguel Beermen thrashed the Slingers 73-53.

The Warriors top the league with eight wins and three losses, followed by the Beermen on 7-3. The Dragons are third with a 6-5 record.

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