San Miguel bowed out of contention in the East Asia Super League (EASL) Champions Week after absorbing a 142-87 beating at the hands of Anyang KGC at the end of the group stage on Saturday, March 4, at the Okinawa Arena.
The Beermen found no answer against import Omari Spellman, who torched them for 53 points, and dazzling Filipino import Rhenz Abando as the two joined hands to deal the reigning PBA Philippine Cup champions a 55-point blowout.
Anyang completed a two-game sweep of Group A to arrange an all-Korea showdown with Seoul SK Knights for the championship and the $250,000 prize purse.
The title duel is set Sunday also in Okinawa.
Abando, the former NCAA Rookie-MVP from Letran and a member of the Gilas Pilipinas pool, finished with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, and together with Spellman, led a second quarter breakaway that turned a tight first quarter into a huge 40-20 lead at the break for the KBL runner-up team.
Daryl Monroe, the other import of Anyang, had a triple double of 15 points, 17 rebounds, and 14 assists.
Import Cameron Clark led San Miguel with 35 points and 10 rebounds, while getting 26 points from CJ Perez.
The Beermen, who played minus injured big man June Mar Fajardo and veteran guard Chris Ross, ended their campaign with a 0-2 record. They earlier lost to Ryukyu Golden Kings, 96-68.
TNT Tropang Giga also finished with the same 0-2 slate in Group B.
Meanwhile, Ryukyu eked out a close 83-78 win over the Taipei Fubon Braves, to finish with a perfect 2-0 slate in Group A.
The Golden Kings finished tied with Seoul SK Knights on top of the same group, but was relegated in the battle for third owing to a lower point differential.
Ryukyu faces Bay Area Dragons for third place, with the winner taking home $50,000.
The scores:
Anyang KGC (142) -- Spellman 53, Abando 22, Byeon J.H. 18, Monroe 15, Bae B.J. 14, Park J.H. 9, Jung J.W. 7, Moon S.G. 3, Han S.H. 1, Yang H.J. 0.
San Miguel (87) -- Clark 35, Perez 26, Cruz 7, Enciso 6, Lassiter 5, Govan 2, Tautuaa 2, Manuel 2, Brondial 0.
Quarter scores: 40-20; 69-36; 109-65; 142-87.