MANILA, Philippines – The Meralco Bolts finished their 2018 Fiba Asia Champions Cup campaign at 4th place as they lost to the Seoul SK Knights, 87-91, on Tuesday, October 2, at Stadium 29 in Nonthaburi, Thailand. 

Diamond Louis Stone led the Bolts with a massive double-double of 32 points and 13 rebounds while Allen Durham followed with 17 points. 

In the Korean side, DaJuan Summers topscored for 26 points to gift the Knights with the bronze medal. 

The Philippine bets managed to cut an 11-point deficit in the first half capped off by back-to-back triples by KG Canaleta that tied the score at 56-all in the 3rd quarter. Garvo Lanete shot his first points from downtown that gave Meralco the 59-57 lead. 

As the shot clock winded down, Wonhyuk Choi drained a halfcourt shot to get the Knights within one at the end of the 3rd period, 62-63. 

The Koreans opened the payoff period with a 7-0 run and the Bolts never recovered in the game.

Durham almost closed the gap as his layup made it one-possession game, 83-86, but the Bukyung Choi hit the dagger jumper in the last 56 seconds of the game. 

The Bolts missed a final berth after losing to Iran’s Petrochimi last Monday, October 1.

The Scores

Meralco 87 – Stone 32, Durham 21, Canaleta 15, Amer 12, Lanete 3, Caram 2, Tolomia 2, Atkins 0, Ballesteros 0, Hugnatan 0, Jamito 0, Salva 0.

SK Knights 91 – Summers 26, An 17, M. Kim 14, W. Choi 13, Lee 11, B. Choi 8, G. Kim 2, Byun 0, Jung 0, S. Kim 0, Ryu 0.

Quarter scores: 25-27, 38-46, 63-62, 87-91. – Rappler.com