Anyang KGC’s Filipino import Rhenz Abando. –ANYANG KGC PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—He may have ended up scoreless in the clincher, but Rhenz Abando is still a Korean Basketball League champion.
The Anyang KGC needed five more minutes to clinch the KBL championship after squeaking past the Seoul SK Knights, 100-97, in overtime of the Game 7 of the finals at Anyang Gymnasium on Sunday.
Abando started for KGC and played for nearly 28 minutes but went blank in the scoring column, missing all of his seven shots from the field.
The Filipino import, however, was active on the departments with three rebounds, two blocks, a steal and an assist to help Anyang seal the 2023 KBL title on its home floor.
It was, however, Omari Spellman, who did the heavy lifting for KGC, which also won the regular season championship, with a monster double-double of 34 points and 14 rebounds.
In a wasted effort, Seoul’s Kim Sun-Hyung ended up with 37 markers built on five triples while Jameel Warney also had 20 markers and 13 boards in the SK Knights’ defeat.
It was a come-from-behind championship run for Anyang, which dropped the opener and had to force a Game 7.
The championship is Anyang’s fourth overall since its inclusion in the league in 1997.