MERALCO fell short of a Final Four berth in the East Asia Super League (EASL) Home and Away Season 2, losing a double overtime heartbreaker against the New Taipei Kings, 106-96 Wednesday night before an ecstatic home crowd at the University of Taipei.
The Kings rallied back from a nine point deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation, stood toe-to-toe with the Bolts in the first extra period, before coming through with a telling 9-0 run in the second overtime to pull off the all-important win that completed the Final Four cast.
Asian import Saki Sakakini led the home team with 31 points and 12 rebounds, former NBA player Darren Daye had 24 and led the team's huge fourth quarter comeback, while Joseph Lin added 19 including a huge three in the second extra period that sparked the nine straight unanswered points by the Kings.
New Taipei finished with a 4-2 record to finish as the second seeded team in Group B behind top seed Ryukyu Golden Kings going to the semifinals.
The Group A cast is composed of no. 1 seed Hiroshima Dragonflies and no. 2 Taoyuan Pilots.
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The Final Four is set in Macau from March 7-9.
DJ Kennedy has 21 points to pace Meralco, which again came just short of making the semifinals as it finished with a 2-4 slate.
Chris Newsome finished with 17 points and Akil Mitchell with 15 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists despite battling back spasm.
Bong Quinto added 15 and Jansen Rios with 11, including a clutch three at the buzzer to end the first overtime period that tied it at 91 and send the game into an extra five minutes.
The loss came three days after Meralco was ousted by Barangay Ginebra via a 94-87 loss in the deciding Game 3 of their quarterfinals series.(RG)
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The scores
New Taipei (106) - Sakakini 31, Daye 24, Lin 19, Manigault 19, Chen 0, Chien 0, Lu 0, Su 0, Hung 0, Lin CP 0.
Meralco (96) - Kennedy 21, Newsome 17, Mitchell 15, Quinto 15, Rios 11, Hodge 10, Black 5, Kouame 2, Cansino 0, Banchero 0.
Quarterscores: 24-25; 42-44; 57-67; 78-78 (reg); 91-91 (1st OT); 106-96.
