Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger almost erased the ABL’s record for most points scored by a Heritage Import, as he dropped 40 markers to lead the Hong Kong Eastern Basketball Team to a 112-105 win over the Paul Zamar and Jason Brickman-led Mono Vampire Basketball Club, Friday evening at Stadium 29 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Standhardinger, who was the second leading scorer of the league prior to the game, was unstoppable. The Southeast Asian Games gold medalist went 15-for-21 from the field and 10-for-14 from the stripe to reach 40 points. The 6-foot-8 big man also filled up the stat sheet with 17 rebounds, three assists, and a block.
“Actually today was not a good day,” Standhardinger said. “I had three easy lay-ups that I missed so I apologize to my teammates because I messed up their assists, but everything else, the victory is the most important thing so it worked out.”
Matthew Wright still holds the record for most points scored by a Heritage Import. The Filipino-Canadian sniper finished with 41 points last February 7, 2016, leading the Kuala Lumpur Dragons to a win against Hi-Tech Bangkok City.
And Hong Kong Eastern needed every point from Standhardinger in the contest, as Tyler Lamb, Ki Lee, and Chi Hang Tang fouled out of the game, while Marcus Elliott and Adam Xu were saddled by foul trouble all throughout. Moreover, Ryan Moss was not available for the contest.
“Ryan Moss is a big part of this team so it’s very important as a team to compensate for losing him, so I’m happy we were able to do that,” shared the first overall pick in the 2017 PBA Draft.
Standhardinger could’ve matched Wright’s record had he not muffed the first free throw attempt with four ticks remaining. He was able to make the second one to reach the 40-point mark.
Filipinos Jason Brickman and Paul Zamar paced Mono Vampire with the former finishing with 12 points, six rebounds, and 11 assists, while the UE alumnus chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Hong Kong is now knotted with Chong Son Kung Fu at the top of the standings with identical 3-0 slates. Mono Vampire dropped to 3-2.
