Manila: Ryukyu secured its first victory at home at the expense of Meralco, 77-74, in the East Asia Super League Season 2 at the Okinawa Arena in Japan on Wednesday night.
The Golden Kings, runner-up in the B. League last year, scored 28 points in the second quarter on the three-point shooting of Yoshiya Uematsu, Masahiro Waki, Yoshiyuki Matsuwaki, and Ryuichi Kishimoto, and the inside presence of import Victor Law and naturalized player Alex Kirk to take a 51-35 lead at halftime.
Law, a former Orlando Magic, finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while fellow import Jack Cooley also scored 18 on top of seven boards. Kirk chipped in 12 points.
Uematsu and Matsuwaki contributed nine points each.
DJ Kennedy had 30 points and 12 rebounds for Meralco, which defeated new team Macau Blackbears, 97-85, in the season opener at the Mall of Asia Arena on Oct. 2.
Chris Newsome and Allen Durham scored 14 points apiece for the Bolts, who played without veteran forward Cliff Hodge and injured players Allein Maliksi
and CJ Cansino.
Hodge did not join the Japan trip to be with his wife, who had given birth to their first-born baby.
Durham, playing for the first time against his former team, joined hands with Kennedy and Bong Quinto in an 8-0 run as the Bolts trimmed an 11-point deficit to 74-77, with 20 seconds remaining.
Meralco tried to send the game into overtime but Durham missed a three-point shot just before the buzzer.
Over at the F-pico Arena in Fukuyama, reigning B. League champion Hiroshima Dragonflies pulled off a 78-67 win over new team Hong Kong Eastern.
Source: Philippines News agency
