Korean Basketball League

Abando cools down as Seoul survives Anyang to move on cusp of KBL title

Martin Mendoza

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Abando cools down as Seoul survives Anyang to move on cusp of KBL title

KEY COG. Anyang import Rhenz Abando drives past his Seoul defender.

ANYANG KGC

After exploding for a team-high 22 points just two days ago, Rhenz Abando goes ice-cold from the field as the Seoul SK Knights take a 3-2 finals lead over the Anyang KGC

MANILA, Philippines – The Seoul SK Knights moved within a win of their second straight Korean Basketball League crown after holding off Rhenz Abando and the Anyang KGC, 66-60, in Game 5 of their best-of-seven finals on Wednesday, May 3 at the Jamsil Student Gymnasium.

After exploding for a team-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting in Anyang’s Game 4 loss just two days ago, Abando struggled mightily from the field this time and came up with only 4 points on a dismal 2-of-12 clip from the field.

Abando, though, made his presence felt on the defensive end, tallying 10 rebounds and a game-high 6 blocks, but those numbers weren’t enough to prevent the defending champion Knights from taking a 3-2 finals lead. 

With Seoul on top by 13 points at halftime, 41-28, Anyang opened the third period on a sizzling 16-2 run, capped by a two-handed fastbreak slam by Abando, to overtake the Knights, 44-43, with 5:46 to play in the quarter.

It was a back-and-forth shootout between both powerhouse squads all throughout the second half. And with the Knights only ahead by 2, 62-60, with a little less than 3 minutes to play in the game, Anyang suddenly went through a dry spell, failing to convert on any of its attempts the rest of the way.

Seoul’s Jae-hyun Oh then iced the game with a cold-blooded triple with 38.7 seconds left, which settled the final count at 66-60.

Jameel Warney steered Seoul to victory with a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Kim Sun-hyung and Oh added 16 and 14 points, respectively.

Omari Spellman led Anyang in the losing cause with his own version of a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Byeon Jun-hyeong and Oh Se-keun contributed 15 and 14 markers, respectively.

Anyang hopes to stay alive and drag Seoul to a Game 7 when the two teams meet again on Friday, May 5 at 5 pm, Manila time. – Rappler.com  

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