MANILA, Philippines – A proven champion throughout his career, Carl Tamayo wasted no time flexing his championship experience in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) as he carried the Changwon LG Sakers to a 75-66 Game 1 win over Juan Gomez de Liaño and the Seoul SK Knights on Monday, May 5.
Tamayo went off for a game-high 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block as the LG Sakers drew first blood against the top-ranked SK Knights in their best-of-seven finals series.
Gomez de Liaño, meanwhile, did not see action for the SK Knights for the third straight contest dating back to their best-of-five semifinals versus JD Cagulangan and the Suwon KT Sonicboom as they failed to protect home-court advantage at the packed Jamsil Gymnasium.
The 24-year-old Tamayo — who has won championships with the NU Bullpups and the UP Fighting Maroons in the UAAP and the Ryukyu Golden Kings in the Japan B. League — got it going early, scoring 15 points in just the first half to help Changwon build a 42-35 halftime lead after trailing by 5 at the end of the opening frame.
With the 6-foot-8 Gilas Pilipinas standout still on target from the field in the third period, the LG Sakers stretched their lead to as many as 11 points, 60-49, at the 2:05 mark of the quarter.
Early in the fourth, Seoul showed signs of life as it trimmed Changwon’s 11-point advantage to just 3, 62-59, with still 6:40 remaining.
However, back-to-back hits from Changwon’s Egyptian import Assem Marei and local Junseok Yang put the LG Sakers’ lead back to a three-possession game, 66-59, which proved just enough to repel any Seoul fightback in the endgame.
Marei backstopped Tamayo with his own version of a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds, to go with 4 assists and 5 steals.
On the other side, American reinforcement Jameel Warney paced Seoul with 21 markers and 13 boards.
Tamayo and the rest of the LG Sakers shoot for a 2-0 series lead when both squads face off anew on Wednesday, May 7, at 6 pm Manila time. – Rappler.com