Anyang KGC’s Rhenz Abando (middle) in the Korean Basketball League. KBL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Rhenz Abando propelled Anyang KGC with an impressive 18-point performance in their 81-67 rout of the Seoul SK Knights to even the series in Game 2 of the Korean Basketball League Finals on Thursday at Anyang Gymnasium.
After his presence was hardly felt in their 77-66 loss in Game 1, Abando bounced back with an efficient outing, shooting 8-of-13 from the field on top of four rebounds, three steals, and two assists in 27 minutes.
The NCAA MVP out of Letran was limited to just four points, two rebounds, and an assist in 20 minutes of play in Game 1.
Oh Se-geun led the charge for Anyang with 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while Omari Spellman posted a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds to go with five dimes to tie the best-of-7 series at 1-1.
Byun Joon-hyung was also instrumental with 13 points, six rebounds, and five assists as Anyang dictated the tempo of the game in the first half with a 42-28 lead and kept their momentum to close out the match.
Anyang, the regular season champion, tries to get the series lead on Saturday at the defending champion’s home turf at Jamsil Students’ Gymnasium in Seoul.
Jameel Warney, who was Seoul’s top scorer in Game 1 with 23 points, was limited to just nine points on 4-of-17 shooting and only grabbed eight rebounds as they couldn’t take the 2-0 series lead.
Choi Bu-Kyung stepped up with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the SK Knights, who drew 12 points from Choi Sung-won and Kim Seon-Hyung’s double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.