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JAKARTA, Indonesia: Harbour Centre-RP Team’s
up-and-down stint in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA)
Champions’ Cup went to utter extremes on Friday at the Sports Mall
Britama Arena.
The Nationals pulverized Hi
Tech-Thailand, 99-63, in a rousing debut but were careful in
celebration after one of their key player was found without official
clearance documents to play in the tournament.
Sam Ekwe appeared in street
clothes in the RP-Thailand game and watched from the sidelines as
his Harbour teammates burned the Thais to the ground for the
team’s first win.
Mike LeBlanc ably picked up the
slack for Ekwe, scoring 18 points and crashing 11 rebounds in a
turnover-less game, while TY Tang led the locals with 21 points
including missing only once in five three-point attempts that
underscored the defending champions’ desire to repeat.
“You want to make a statement
early and I think as defending champions, we did a beautiful job
with that,” Harbour head coach Jorge Gallent.
But if Ekwe fails to suit up for
the rest of the tournament—a possibility that looms considering
the time factor to process the papers—the team’s heart more than
anything else will play a major role in Harbour’s back-to-back
ambitions.
“Again, it was a nice way to
win but that will go to waste if we can’t ride on its momentum.
Especially now that we might miss Sam [Ekwe], we need everybody on
the team to exert maximum effort,” Gallent added.
Before playing abroad, imported
players are required to get players’ clearance certificates from
either the Fiba itself or the player’s country of origin, an old
regulation expressly written in a letter addressed to the BAP-SBP by
SEABA secretary general Dato Yeo Choo Hock.
Harbour Centre team manager Erick
Arejola said Friday night he received confirmation from BAP-SBP
executive director Patrick Gregorio that the matter is being taken
cared of.
The Philippines plays its final
assignment in the three-day tournament against Malaysia-NBL, coached
by former RP mentor Boysie Zamar, on Sunday. Game time is 5 p.m.
Malaysia lost, 88-86, to Indonesia-SM Britana Friday.
Scores:
RP 99 – Tang 21, LeBlanc 18,
Castro 16, Belga 10, Fernandez 10, Vergara 7, Gaco 6, Ababou 4, Chan
3, Alonzo 2, Malabanan 2.
THAILAND 63 – Lertmalaiporn 17,
Piroon 14, Kanokamornisjn 10, Lertlaokul 5, Jantharaniyom 4,
Silapapipat 4, Vivattanapongpetch 3, Jantuma 2, Rittiphanyawong 2,
Sasison 2, Pinitpatcharalert 0, Pongsiri 0.
Quarters: 22-25, 50-38, 74-49,
99-63.
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