WITHOUT its key players, Meralco just couldn’t get past the Seoul SK Knights, 72-62, as it ended its East Asia Super League campaign on a losing note.
In the absence of Chris Newsome and Co., the Bolts relied on their bench players and gave the Knights all they could handle until losing steam in the fourth quarter of the game at the Jamsil Student’s Gymnasium.
The home team outscored the Bolts in the final frame, 23-14, to take the win and clinch the top spot in Group B with its 4-2 record.
The Korean Basketball League ballclub ended up tied the New Taipei Kings, but won the tiebreaker behind their 89-57 win over the Taipei side last week.
Aside from Newsome, also not around for Meralco were Cliff Hodge, Allein Maliksi, Raymond Almazan, Chris Banchero, Bong Quinto, and Aaron Black.
In their absence, import Shonn Miller showed the way for the Bolts with 23 points and eight rebounds.
Alvin Pasaol finished with 14 points as the best local scorer for Meralco, while new import Alioune Tew had 10 points and grabbed 21 rebounds as the Bolts finished their campaign with a 1-5 record.
The scores
Seoul SK Knights (72) – Williams 25, Heo 23, Changyong 8, Oh 7, Choi 4, Kim 3, Yaung 2, Park 0, Moon 0, S. Oh 0, B. Choi 0, Seonghwan 0.
Meralco (62) – Miller 23, Pasaol 14, Tew 10, Caram 10, Rios 3, Dario 2, Jose 0, Bates 0, Jackson 0, Torres 0, Pascual 0.
Quarterscores: 14-13; 32-30; 49-48; 72-62.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
