In a battle of two University of the Philippines greats, it was Carl Tamayo and Ryukyu who came out on top, scraping past Juan Gomez de Liano and Seoul SK, 80-79, to score their first win in Group B of the 2023-24 EASL Tournament on Wednesday evening at Okinawa Arena.
Tamayo, who came off the bench, only played 15 minutes in the contest, finishing with seven points, two rebounds, a steal, and an assist.
Meanwhile, Gomez de Liano, who made his Knights debut in the EASL, got nine points, three rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
It was a thrilling game between the reigning B.League champions King and KBL runners-up Knights that went down-the-wire.
With 24 seconds left and Ryukyu down 77-79, Vic Law powered his way to the paint, scoring an and-one over Jameel Warney for the go-ahead basket.
Warney wanted to atone for his lapse but could not, missing on a jumper and a putback as time expired.
Law tallied a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds while Warney was the sole double-digit scorer for Seoul SK with 39 points nad 10 rebounds.
Keita Imamura led Ryukyu with 18 points on four treys while Alex Kirk went 6-of-9 from the field for 13 points.
The two teams will face off once again next week in Goyang.
