Hong Kong Eastern Basketball Team continued Tanduay Alab Pilipinas’ misery early in the 9th ASEAN Basketball League, sending the Philippine side to its third straight loss, 99-96, Wednesday night at the Southorn Stadium.
The Filipino club team has now dropped to a 0-3 hole, while the defending ABL champions cruised to their fifth straight win for a clean 5-0 slate. Moreover, HK Eastern is now 2-0 in their season series with Tanduay Alab.
Tyler Lamb powered Hong Kong Eastern with 32 big points, 11 coming in the fourth quarter. World Import Marcus Elliott had a solid all-around outing with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists.
Christian Standhardinger, who is coming off a 40-point outing against Mono Vampire BC, added 25 markers — spiked by 3-of-3 treys in the fourth — in the win.
The sophomore ABL franchise was actually on pace to put an end to the league leaders’ winning streak, all thanks to several double-digit cushions they were able to establish in the first three quarters.
But it all changed come crunch time. And what transpired in the end-game on Wednesday night was similar — perhaps eerily so — to what had taken place in their first meeting last November 19 in Manila.
From an 85-88 deficit with 3:38 to go in the final quarter, Hong Kong Eastern went on an 11-0 rampage behind the exploits of reinforcements Elliott, Lamb, and Moss to establish a favorable 96-88 lead with 1:24 on the clock.
The Philippine contingent then responded with an 8-2 surge — capped by Reggie Okosa’s three — to give the home team a legit threat by trimming the deficit to just two points, 96-98, with just 15 ticks remaining.
Tanduay Alab had chances to either tie the match or even steal the W, but their shots failed to meet the bottom of the net. Lee Ki’s split freebies on the other end helped Hong Kong widen their lead, 99-96, with 11 seconds left.
And just like in their season opener, Alab looked to send the game into an extra period. Josh Urbiztondo had chances to redeem himself from that missed end-game triple back in that opener, but unfortunately, he missed again.
Ivan Johnson paced Tanduay Alab with 32 points and nine rebounds. Okosa had 25 and 13, while Ray Parks Jr. supplied 14 markers.
The Scores:
Hong Kong Eastern 99 — Lamb 32, Standhardinger 25, Elliott 20, Lee 12, Moss 6, Tang 2, Xu 2, Lau 0.
Tanduay Alab 96 — Johnson 32, Okosa 25, Urbiztondo 14, Parks 11, Celiz 6, Hontiveros 3, Sumalinog 3, Domingo 2, Javelona 0, Maierhofer 0.
Quarterscores: 20-23, 43-46, 64-66, 99-96.
