Days after the Brgy. Ginebra Gin Kings eliminated Meralco in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, another king showed the Bolts the exit door as the New Taipei Kings take the last EASL Final Four slot.
New Taipei did not need Jeremy Lin in overcoming Meralco, 106-96, in the second overtime of their East Asia Super League duel Wednesday, Feb. 12.
As the former Los Angeles Laker watched on from the bench in street clothes, his brother Joseph proved to be clutch as he nailed the triple in the face of Ange Kouame to give the Kings a safe passage to the Final Four in Macau.
Lin finished with 19 points, seven assists and three steals for New Taipei.
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Sani Sakanini topscored for the hosts with 31 big points he complemented with 12 rebounds and two assists.
Austin Daye made some of the biggest shots on his way to 24 points.
Among those were his triple off a broken play that sent the game into the first overtime, before dropping four in the final 30 seconds of the first extra period for a 91-87 lead.
The 9.1 ticks left after that were long enough for Meralco to pull off a miracle, though.
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Chris Newsome split his shots from the free throw line then Jansen Rios swished a Hail Mary of a triple to extend the match a second time.
Though Akil Mitchell fouled out, Meralco refused to give up and engaged New Taipei in a nip-and-tuck battle.
Cliff Hodge scored on layup to pull them to within one, 96-97, but that shot also proved to be the final field goal for the Bolts, who were ousted by the Kings anew just days after Ginebra eliminated them in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup.
Kennedy paced Meralco with 21 points, eight rebounds three assists, and four steals.
Newsome fired 17 points he topped with six rebounds, seven assists and two steals, while Mitchell had 15 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and a steal.