Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger became a villain to his fellow Filipinos, as his end-game buckets lifted Hong Kong Eastern past Tanduay Alab Pilipinas, 92-89, in the ABL opener on Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The six-foot-eight Gilas Pilipinas stalwart nailed back-to-back baskets — a wide-open jumper with 18.8 seconds, and an uncontested lay-up with 5.3 ticks left — in the final seconds to arrest Alab’s comeback and win one on the road.
Standhardinger also top-billed for the defending champions with 26 points and 14 rebounds. World Imports Marcus Elliott and Tyler Lamb also made their presence felt strongly with 25 and 23 markers, respectively.
The Filipino dribblers actually gave their counterparts a run for their money in the game, mounting two comebacks — one from a 15-point deficit, 63-48, in the third quarter, and another one from eight points down, 82-74, in the final frame.
And in their last-ditch effort, Tanduay Alab had a great chance to upend Hong Kong. With Ray Parks, Jr. taking over, the Philippine side inched within just a point, 90-89, after his three-point play with 10.2 ticks left to play.
But then Standhardinger’s dagger five seconds later struck Tanduay Alab hard and widened their lead to three, 92-89. Josh Urbiztondo tried to tie the game, but his triple from the wing rattled in and out, sealing the win for Hong Kong.
World Import Reggie Okosa topbilled for Tanduay Alab with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Fellow World Import Ivan Johnson, who fouled out of the game in the fourth, and Parks, Jr. each supplied 17 markers in the loss.
Tanduay Alab (0-1) will try to bounce back versus the Singapore Slingers (0-1) on Wednesday, November 29, in Sta. Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna.
The Scores:
Hong Kong Eastern 92 – Standhardinger 26, Elliott 25, Lamb 23, Moss 10, Xu 4, Lee 2, Tang 2, Wu 0, Lau 0.
Tanduay Alab 89 – Okosa 28, Parks 17, Johnson 17, Urbiztondo 14, Sumalinog 9, Domingo 2, Maierhofer 2, Hontiveros 0, Raymundo 0, Celiz 0, Javelona 0.
Quarterscores: 24-18, 54-43, 73-68, 92-89.
