RHENZ ABANDO — ANYANG KGC

FROM the local collegiate ranks to the overseas pro scene.

Former NCAA champion Rhenz Abando gets a crack at another championship as top seed Anyang KGC advanced to the Korean Basketball League (KBL) finals with a 3-1 win over the Goyang Carrot Jumpers in the best-of-five semifinal series.

Mr. Abando, the Rookie-MVP from Letran, took care of business on the road at the Goyang Gymnasium with a wire-to-wire victory, 89-61, to live up to expectations as the No. 1 seed.

The Filipino import failed to score after missing his three attempts but chipped in four rebounds and a block in 10 minutes of play. Seong-gon Moon led Anyang with 22 points.

Anyang, which was hailed as the regular season champion with a league-best 37-17 record, thus arranged a finals rematch with reigning champion Seoul SK Knights.

Without Mr. Abando who also captured the Slam Dunk title in the KBL All-Star Game, Anyang absorbed a 4-1 defeat against Seoul in the best-of-seven finale last season.

But last month, Anyang featuring Mr. Abando as its reinforcement under the Asian Quota Player program exacted some sort of vengeance by ruling the inaugural East Asia Super League (EASL) Champions Week in an all-Korean final over Seoul, 90-84.

Seoul, which finished third in the regular season at 36-18, booked a return trip to the finals by scoring a 3-0 sweep of the No. 2 Changwon LG Sakers with another local stalwart in College of St. Benilde’s Justin Gutang.

Game 1 of the finals is set next Tuesday. — John Bryan Ulanday

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