Malaysian sides join NCAA strongholds in AsiaBasket semis

Jalen Robinson's monster game helped KL complete a late run to the AsiaBasket semis. AsiaBasket
By Dugout Philippines

KUALA LUMPUR—Harimau Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur completed the semifinal cast of the Sportsclick AsiaBasket International Championship following crucial wins on Saturday night at the MABA Stadium here.

Harimau Malaysia clinched the third seat in the knockout rounds after drubbing Sanzar Pharmaceuticals, 81-54, in the first game.

Sanzar needed to win by a huge margin—at least by 12 points in particular—to steal the second semifinal spot for Group A from the national team.

But instead, it was Harimau Malaysia which blew out Sanzar, beginning with a 25-10 first quarter.

Harimau Malaysia upped its lead to as high as 29 points late in the contest before settling for the 27-point win.

Wong Yi Hou and Kuek Tian Yuan each scored 17 points to lead Harimau Malaysia, which will face San Beda-Machateam, the top seed in Group B, in one semifinal at 5 p.m. Sunday night.

None of the Sanzar players reached double figures in points with Juvel Gican the top scorer with nine points.

Shaq Alanes, who has been Sanzar’s main offensive arsenal in the tournament, was held to five points on 1-for-11 shooting in the do-or-die game as the team finished at 1-3.

In the main game, the Kuala Lumpur Aseel completed a late run to the semifinals with an 88-72 win against The Th3rd Floor-KalosPH-Cooly.

KL bounced back in time after The Th3rd Floor, playing spoiler, had a shot at bringing KL to the sidelines.

KL seemed to be on track of downing The Th3rd Floor early on after mounting a 23-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Th3rd Floor, however, slowly crawled back and eventually took a 53-45 lead midway through the third period.

KL reclaimed control of the game after ending the third on a 17-5 run to take a 62-58 lead entering the fourth.

The Th3rd Floor still put up a fight and tied the game one last time, 66-all, with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

KL, though responded with a 12-2 run to take the lead for good, 78-68, with 4:13 remaining.

The Th3rd Floor one last comeback attempt after scoring back-to-back basket to trim the gap to six, 78-72, with three and a half minutes remaining.

However, a sorry hook shot miss from Ladis Lepalam which could have cut the lead further sealed The Th3rd Floor’s fate as KL ended the game with a 10-0 run to ice it.

Jalen Robinson made 26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal for KL, which forced a three-way tie with San Beda-Machateam and MBC Kirin for the top spot in Group B at 3-1.

Following the tallying of quotients, the Red Lions are the top seeds and the Aseel will take the second seat, knocking MBC out of contention.

Wee Yong Gan added 20 points, one rebound, seven assists, and two steals, while Louie Sangalang had 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and three steals for KL, which will face College of St. Benilde in the other semifinal at 7 p.m. Sunday.

Gerald Anderson fired 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and five steals, while Genmar Bragais added 16 points, three rebounds, two assists, and four steals for The Th3rd Floor, which finished its stint winless.

Box Scores:

First Game

Harimau Malaysia 81 – Y. Wong 17, Kuek 17, Heng 13, Ting 12, Lee 6, Ong 6, Lim 3, Mahadevan 3, Teo 3, J. Wong 1, Dee 0, Chang 0

Sanzar 54 – Gican 9, Madera 8, Kawamura 8, Laminou 7, Taladua 6, Alanes 5, Lanzar 3, Maurillo 2, Moradas 0, Zagala 0, Dimas 0

Quarterscores: 25-10, 42-23, 58-35, 81-54

Second Game

Kuala Lumpur 88 – Robinson 26, Wee 20, Sangalang 15, Soong 8, G. Tan 7, Gan 6, W. Tan 6, Yap 0

The Th3rd Floor-KalosPH-Cooly 72 – Anderson 19, Bragais 16, Zamora 14, Lepalam 12, Portales 6, Flores 5, Mendoza 0, Talan 0, Sera Josef 0, Catipay 0, Vanguardia 0, Navalon 0

Quarterscores: 23-13, 39-33, 62-58, 88-72

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