Meralco loses to New Taipei in 2OT thriller, bows out of EASL tourney

Sports

THE Meralco Bolts bowed out of Final Four contention after they succumbed to a sorry 96-106 double-overtime loss to the New Taipei Kings in the East Asia Super League (EASL) Home and Away Season 2 on Wednesday night, February 13, at the University of Taipei Gym.

Meralco was ahead by nine points in the final seven minutes of the regulation but allowed the Kings to come back. The Kings completed the comeback by staging a back-breaking 9-0 run in the second overtime.

New Taipei got a huge boost from Asian import Saki Sakakini, who came away with 31 points and 12 rebounds. Sakanini was backed by former NBA player Austin Daye, who tallied 24 points, most of them he made in the Kings’ mighty fourth-quarter comeback.

Joseph Lin added 19 points as New Taipei wound up as the second seed in Group B, trailing the top-ranked Ryukyu Golden Kings.

DJ Kennedy scored 21 points for Meralco, which ended its campaign with two wins and four losses.

Chris Newsome added 17 markers while import Akil Mitchell had 15 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.

THE SCORES:

NEW TAIPEI (106) - Sakakini 31, Daye 24, Lin 19, Manigault 19, Chen 0, Chien 0, Lu 0, Su 0, Hung 0, Lin CP 0.

MERALCO (96) - Kennedy 21, Newsome 17, Mitchell 15, Quinto 15, Rios 11, Hodge 10, Black 5, Kouame 2, Cansino 0, Banchero 0.QUARTERSCORES: 24-25; 42-44; 57-67; 78-78 (reg); 91-91 (1st OT); 106-96.(CCM)