MANILA, Philippines – Wherever Carl Tamayo goes, a championship follows.
For the second time in his overseas professional career, Tamayo can proudly call himself a champion once again as the Changwon LG Sakers finally claimed the Korean Basketball League (KBL) title after a 62-58 Game 7 win against the Seoul SK Knights on Saturday, May 17.
The 6-foot-8 Gilas Pilipinas standout Tamayo posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, to go with 2 assists and 2 steals in over 35 minutes of play to help the LG Sakers finally get the job done after wasting their early 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
This marks the LG Sakers’ first-ever title since the league was established in 1997 and Tamayo’s second crown in the professional ranks after also being part of the Ryukyu Golden Kings champion team in the 2022-2023 Japan B. League season.
The 24-year-old Tamayo — who has also won championships with the NU Bullpups and the UP Fighting Maroons during his time in the UAAP — became the second Filipino Asian Quota import to capture a title in the KBL, together with Rhenz Abando, who helped the Anyang KGC take home the crown in the 2022-2023 season.
With Changwon leading by just four points with under seven minutes left in the game, Tamayo and his teammate Heo II-young delivered back-to-back booming threes to put the LG Sakers ahead by double-digits, 55-45.
A late-game fightback by the SK Knights got them to within one, 54-55, before Assem Marei ended the LG Sakers’ drought with a much-needed putback layup with 39 seconds to play.
Seoul star Kim Sun-hyung then had the chance to tie the game at 57-all in the next possession, but his three-point attempt failed to hit the mark.
With Changwon now on top again by two possessions, 60-55, Seoul import Jameel Warney knocked down a tough triple over the outstretched arm of Marei to cut the deficit back to just two with still 11.1 seconds left.
Unfortunately for the SK Knights, Yu Ki-sang immediately put the nail in the coffin with two pressure-packed foul shots to settle the final count at 62-58.
Heo led Changwon in the scoring column with 14 points built on four treys, while Yu added 11 markers.
Kim and Warney paced Seoul with 11 points apiece as Juan Gomez de Liaño — who topscored for the SK Knights in Game 2 — was not fielded in for the second straight contest.
After going off for 24 points in Game 1 and 28 points in Game 2, Tamayo wrapped up the grueling seven-game finals series with a scoring average of 15.7 points for the LG Sakers. – Rappler.com