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Indonesia. Satria Muda Britama would have wanted a different ending to its Asean Basketball League season, but the Jakarta club’s campaign come to a close the same way it did last year — falling short in front of its hometown fans against the Philippine Patriots.

Steve Thomas scored 21 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, and fellow American Gabe Freeman added 16 and 13 as the Patriots overcame a spirited fourth-quarter rally by Satria Muda to win 77-74 in overtime at Jakarta’s BritAma Arena on Saturday.

On the last day of the ABL’s preliminary round, Satria Muda needed to beat the defending champion Patriots to clinch a spot in the semifinals.

Coach Ocky Tamtelahitu’s squad nearly pulled off the feat, coming from 15 points down midway through the third quarter to force an extra period before turnovers and the Patriots’ rebounding foiled the home team’s comeback bid.

“The Patriots are a great team. With the bench that they have and if they outhustle you the way they did, it’ll be difficult to beat them,” said Ocky, whose squad finished the season with a 6-9 record.

Satria Muda’s loss gave the Slingers (7-8) the fourth seed in the semifinals, a reason for Singapore to celebrate despite losing 66-65 to the Chang Thailand Slammers in Bangkok. The Slingers will get another chance against the top-seeded Slammers (11-4) in a best-of-three semifinal that begins on Sunday.

The other final four pairing features the Patriots (9-6) and the Westsports KL Dragons (8-7). The Patriots will have home-court advantage in their series after the Dragons were stunned 87-73 by the last-place Brunei Barracudas (4-11).

“It’s been a difficult season, but that’s what happens when you’re the champion. Teams will bring their best night in, night out,” Patriots coach Louie Alas said.

Satria Muda had occupied the bottom of the standings for much of the season. But a string of four victories entering Saturday’s game put the famed Indonesian club back in the hunt for a postseason berth.

It looked like the Patriots had snuffed out Satria Muda’s hopes in the third quarter though, as the visitors came out of the halftime break scoring nine unanswered points on the way to building a 60-45 lead.

Playing in what was to be its last home appearance of the season, Satria Muda went to Marcus Morrison for one final rally.

The 1.98-meter-tall forward scored seven of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, before American teammate Antoine Broxsie calmly sank two free throws with 47.3 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 71 and force overtime.

“If we want to go all the way again this year, we need to work on closing out games,” Alas said.

The Patriots took full advantage of Satria Muda’s turnovers and weak interior defense to get in the driver’s seat early in the extra period.

Satria Muda’s luck ran out, with a shot-clock violation and a bungled possession that resulted in the ball going out of bounds set the club back as it fell behind 77-71 and never recovered.

Broxsie led Satria Muda with 17 points and 11 rebounds, but limped late in the game because of cramps in his right leg.

Veteran Indonesian point guard Mario Wuysang, who had averaged 15.6 points in Satria Muda’s three games prior to Saturday, finished with a scant five points while committing five turnovers.

The Patriots enjoyed a 35-13 advantage off the offensive glass, leading to a 33-11 disparity in second-chance points.

During the inaugural ABL season, Satria Muda was swept 3-0 by the Patriots in the finals, losing 75-67 in the deciding game in Jakarta.