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| Carl Tamayo, Assem Marei, and the rest of Changwon finally clinched the KBL title. Changwon LG Sakers (file photo) |
MANILA—The Changwon LG Sakers averted what could have been the biggest finals collapse in KBL history after finally clinching the championship in a hard-fought 62-58 win against the Seoul SK Knights in Game 7 on Saturday at the Jamsil Students' Gymnasium in Seoul.
Up 3-0 in the series only to let Seoul SK force the rubber match, Changwon nearly had another collapse late in the game, but unlike in Game 6 where they botched a chance to close it out at home, the Sakers survived.
Changwon was on the verge of pulling away after opening a 55-45 lead with 4:36 left behind four threes early in the fourth quarter.
However, Seoul SK responded with an 8-0 run that cut the lead down to two, 55-53, with 3:13 to go.
Kim Tae-Hoon had a chance to tie the game after forcing Carl Tamayo's last foul of the game, but he missed his second free throw with 1:58 to play.
After forcing a Yu Ki-Sang turnover, the Knights had numerous chances of taking the lead, but they missed three straight attempts including two consecutive three-pointers.
Yu made it up by stealing the ball from Kim Sun-Hyung after his offensive rebound, eventually leading to a Assem Marei layup for a 57-54 cushion with 38 seconds to go.
Jung In-Duk somehow still gave the Sakers a scare after only making a split from the line with 26 seconds left.
However, Kim Sun-Hyung also went 1-for-2 in his own trip at the charity stripe and Changwon's lead remained at three, 58-55, with 20 seconds to play.
Yu iced the contest with four straight free throws in end as his team finally closed it out on its fourth try.
Heo Il-Young led the Sakers, who finally captured their first KBL title, with 14 points behind a solid 4-for-5 clip from long range and five rebounds.
His Game 7 performance was enough to name him the KBL Playoffs MVP.
Yu and Tamayo each added 12 points with Tamayo, who captured his second title in the pros after scoring one with the Ryukyu Golden Kings in the Japan B.League last season, adding 10 rebounds.
Jameel Warney and Kim Hyung-Bin each scored 11 markers to lead the Knights, who failed to win a chip in their third finals trip in four years.
With Seoul SK's failure to complete the comeback, San Miguel's "Beeracle" in the 2016 PBA Philippine Cup Finals remains the only time one team fought back from 0-3 down to win a best-of-seven series.
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