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| Chris Massie received the best player award after getting the better of his match-up with Greg Slaughter to lift Changwon to a preseason win against Ginebra. Jonathan Nava |
By Ivan Saldajeno
The defending KBL champions Changwon Sakers leaned on their outside shooting and American reinforcement Chris Massie as they beat the PBA's Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 81-76, in an LG Electronics-organized preseason game dubbed as the Asian Basketball Showdown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Ki Seung-Ho provided the early blast from beyond the arc as he nailed two three-pointers in the first quarter en route to scoring 12 of his 21 points as the Sakers led the Gin Kings, 20-17, at the end of the frame.
Ginebra, however, stayed close and even took the lead in the second quarter. Changwon closed the period with a late rally to take a 40-35 edge at the half.
The friendly, however, got a little feisty when Ki and Mac Baracael were tagged with a double foul in the third period. In the next Ginebra offensive, Ki was whistled for a flagrant foul while guarding Baracael.
Despite another Ginebra rally to retake the lead, Changwon recovered late in the third to open a 60-54 lead.
The Gin Kings tried to inch closer anew in the fourth quarter and were within one, 65-66, with over three minutes left in the game.
Kim Si-Rae, however, completed a three-point play while getting Rodney Brondial's sixth foul to increase the Sakers' lead to four.
Massie then broke an alley-oop play intended for Chris Ellis and converted a layup to further up the lead to six, 71-65.
After a timeout, Joseph Yeo made a quick jumper to cut the lead to four again, but Kim Yong-Hwan drained a triple to put the lead to seven.
After two free throws from Greg Slaughter, Ki drove to the lane for a layup to keep a seven-point advantage, 76-69, with 1:14 left.
Yeo then tried a layup against the traffic that he missed, but Slaughter cleared the board and made the follow-up.
Kim Yong-Hwan, however, sealed the Korean team's win with another clutch triple with 38.2 seconds left, and Changwon held on till the end.
The 6'6" Massie had a solid game for Changwon with 24 points on 11/15 shooting from the field, 14 rebounds, four assists, and a steal while having to contain the seven-foot Slaughter, earning him the MVP honor.
After the game, Massie lauded the Gin Kings for how they played during the club friendly. "They played tough," he said.
He also cited their physicality, which motivated him further. "I like to play physical," Massie added.
Kim Yong-Hwan added 15 points, seven coming in the payoff period, with five rebounds for the Sakers, who made ten triples overall.
Slaughter made 23 markers on 8/14 field goal shooting and 7/8 free throw clip and 12 boards for Ginebra, which falls to 0-2 in the preseason. The Gin Kings lost to the Kia Sorentos, 73-71, two days ago.
Box Scores:
Changwon 81-Massie 24, Ki 21, Y. Kim 15, S. Kim 13, J. Lee 4, Yoo 3, Yaung 1, H. Park 0
Ginebra 76-Slaughter 23, Ellis 13, Baracael 13, Yeo 9, Helterbrand 7, Urbiztondo 3, Mamaril 2, Reyes 2, Caguioa 2, Brondial 2, Monfort 0
Quarterscores: 20-17, 40-35, 60-54, 81-76
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