Abando, Anyang extend Tropang Giga EASL woes in South Korea
RHENZ Abando and his Korean club Anyang Jung Kwan Jang extended TNT’s woes in the East Asia Super League (EASL) via a 105-97 verdict Wednesday night in South Korea.
The high-flying Mr. Abando dropped 13 points, two rebounds and three assists to backstop Seonwon Choi (24) and Darryl Monroe (21 markers with 10 rebounds and nine assists) in Anyang’s second straight win in Group A.
The Red Boosters pushed the undermanned Tropang Giga (0-4) to the brink.
“We’re disappointed, we feel we could have come out better and played a better game,” said assistant coach Josh Reyes, who was tasked with the coaching chore in the road game.
Quincy Miller (35-9), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (29-8) and Calvin Oftana (25 spiked by five triples) carried the load for TNT, which played without veteran playmaker Jayson Castro in addition to injured or sick stalwarts like RR Pogoy and Poy Erram.
“It’s no secret that back home in the PBA we’ve been facing a lot of challenges as a squad but it’s no excuse how we came out and performed today, especially in the second half,” said Mr. Reyes.
The match was marred by a commotion near the end involving Mr. Monroe and TNT senior consultant Chot Reyes. It started when Mr. Monroe stood near the Tropang Giga’s huddle taking a peek at the play being drawn up.
“Both teams were competing hard, both players and everybody in our delegation. It was just a situation where we wanted to show everybody that we’re here for business,” said the younger Mr. Reyes.
“If we feel there’s some disrespect happening then we want to stand up against that. It’s not a diss to Mr. Monroe. He was just out there trying to do what’s within the rules. It’s just two teams and two individuals competing at the highest level.”
Mr. Monroe apologized for his action.
“First of all, I wanted to apologize for the small incident during the game. To coach, to the team, to any fans … if I disrespected you guys, I just want to apologize and say I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do anything malicious or anything like that,” he said. — Olmin Leyba
The Scores:
Anyang 105 — Choi 24, Moore 21, Abando 13, Ko 14, J.Park 12, Hyogeun 10, Spellman 7, Woo 2, Jonghyun 2.
TNT 97 — MIller 35, Hollis-Jefferson 29, Oftana 25, Heruela 4, Khobuntin 0, Tungcab 0, Ponferada 0, Aurin 0,
Quarterscores: 32-26, 58-44, 80-67, 105-97.
