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The steep climb back into serious title contention begins on Sunday for Satria Muda Britama as it hosts Game 3 of the Asean Basketball League finals at the Britama Arena in Jakarta.

Outclassed by a confident Philippine Patriots team in a two-game swing in Manila, Satria Muda will look for some hometown boost as it tries to dig out of a 0-2 hole in the best-of-five series.

“This will be our last stand, the hardest game ever,” Satria Muda coach Fictor Roring said on Friday. “I believe we still have a chance to win. We just have to give our all.”

Satria Muda’s best efforts have never been good enough against the Patriots, which has won all five games they’ve played in the inaugural ABL season.

The Patriots held serve in Manila, winning the first two games of the final by an average of 14.5 points. Now it’s Satria Muda’s turn to protect home court as it tries to inject some life into a series that is slowly slipping away.

“It’s about having the right mentality right now,” Fictor said. “I asked my boys to be strong and not to crack under pressure.”

At a time when they were needed the most, Satria Muda’s imports were out of synch in Game 2 on Wednesday. Alex Hartman, the tournament’s leading scorer, finished with only 12 points, while Nakiea Miller, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds in Game 1, scored a disappointing 11 points. Rony Gunawan led Satria Muda with 15 points.

With Satria Muda’s imports contained, the Patriots breezed to a 72-53 victory.

“We played well in Game 1, but we lost our concentration down the stretch. In Game 2, our local players responded to the challenge but the imports struggled,” Fictor said.

“We need all our players to play with energy in Game 3, and I’m urging them to play their best in front of our fans.”

One area of concern for Satria Muda is holding down Patriots import Gabe Freeman.

After he torched the Indonesian Basketball League champion for 39 points in Game 1, Freeman tallied 23 points and 13 rebounds in Game 2. Rob Wainwright, a Filipino player of American descent, made four three-pointers to finish with 16 points, and Jason Dixon, the Patriots’ other import, added 11 points and 10 rebounds

“The Patriots imports are very good,” Fictor said.

“I thought we limited Freeman in Game 2, but Wainwright and Dixon stepped up. We have to figure out the best defense to contain them all.”

Satria Muda also has to shoot better from the floor, Fictor said. It was an anemic 33.3 percent from the field in Game 2.

Patriots coach Louie Alas said it wasn’t going to be easy to finish off Satria Muda, especially on its home turf.

“It’s going to be tough to play in front of a hostile crowd, but we’ll come out fighting,” he said. ABL