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Eastern breaks SMB's heart for the third time

Sports | Basketball

Eastern breaks SMB's heart for the third time

By Reynald I. Magallon

At A Glance

A win remained elusive for San Miguel in the East Asia Super League Season 2 after falling short anew against Hong Kong Eastern, 84-74, at the PhilSports Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 15.

A win remained elusive for San Miguel in the East Asia Super League Season 2 after falling short anew against Hong Kong Eastern, 84-74, at the PhilSports Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 15.

Already out of Final four contention and was only battling for some measure of pride, the Beermen fell behind by as many as 20 points but tried to rally back in the final frame only to be proven futile in the end.

June Mar Fajardo and Don Trollano tried to carry the fight as the Philippine side cut a once 50-70 deficit at the start of the payoff period to just seven, 70-77, inside the last two minutes of the contest.

Eastern, however, held on with Kobey Lam delivering the dagger triple that made it 80-70 with 1:31 left and slammed the door on SMB comeback hopes.

Fajardo finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds while Don Trollano also had 20 to go with five assists and four rebounds in yet another losing effort for the Beermen who seemed to just cannot find a way to break through against the Hong Kong-based team.

Through their first two meetings, one each in the EASL and PBA, SMB had always trailed big before making a comeback effort in the second half, only to be foiled in the end

Former SMB import Cameron Clark proved to be the biggest thorn to the side of the Beermen with 25 points and eight rebounds while the other reinforcement in Chris McLaughlin had a double-double of 15 points and 17 rebounds.

Eastern improved to a 3-2 record to keep itself in contention for a top 2 finish in Group A while SMB remained winless through five games.

The Beermen try to avoid another winless campaign in the EASL when they close out their group stage schedule with a road game against Suwon KT Sonicboom on Feb. 12.

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