Asia league: iECO bows to Ryukyu in Terrific 12

PBA D League All Stars Ieco Green Warriors vs Ryuku Golden Kings during The Asia League’s ‘The Terrific 12’ at Studio City Event Center on 18 September 2018, in Macau, Macau. Photo by Chung Yan Man / Power Sport Images for Asia League

MACAU—Ryukyu laid down the law on a hapless iECO for the 103-75 beating in the first match of Group D in the Asia League The Terrific 12 Tuesday at Studio City Events Center here.

The Golden Kings went on a 17-0 start in the first and that was enough to keep the Green Warriors, an affiliate of Blackwater in the PBA, from making any attempt at a comeback.

It also didn’t help iECO when big man Richard Howell went down with an apparent injury on his left knee after landing awkwardly at the 6:26 mark of the first quarter.

“It was a bad start for us and also bad luck we lost our heart and soul in Rich,” said iECO head coach Ariel Vanguardia. “Still, proud of the effort that the players displayed despite us being down by a big margin.”

The Green Warriors tried to fight back in the latter stage of the game with shooters like Jai Reyes and Matt Salem hitting their shots but the Golden Kings had too much of a lead to be threatened.

“In the second and third quarters we were able to execute the way we wanted but it was too big of a lead to overcome without Rich.”

Salem led the Green Warriors, who are comprised of the core of Go for Gold from the PBA D-League, with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from deep while Kris Porter had 12 points.

Josh Scott had 17 points and seven rebounds for the B.League team while Jeff Ayres, who once played for the San Antonio Spurs, added 12 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists.