By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense Samjosef Belangel achieved a personal milestone as the Daegu Korea Gas Corporation Pegasus dominated the Busan KCC Egis, 80-58, in the Korean Basketball League at the Busan Sajik Gymnasium.

The former Gilas Pilipinas guard scored his 1,100th point in the league after tallying 19 points to go with eight assists as the Pegasus notched their fourth consecutive victory for a 4-1 win-loss slate.

Belangel, a former standout of the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, opted not to talk about his personal milestone as what is important for him is the Pegasus winning its fourth straight game.

“I really want to talk about the team win. There were some shortcomings in the first half, but I want to say that we gained the strength to overcome [them] even though the game started off difficult,” Belangel said.

Andrew Nicholson led the way for Daegu with a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Ndoye Youssopha also made his presence felt offensively with 13 markers.

Pegasus head coach Kang Hyuk credited the tight defense of his players the entire game as the key to their dominant victory against the defending champions Egis.

“We had 12 turnovers in the first half; we should have lost by 10 to 15 points, but the players defended until the end,” Kang said after the game.

“Turnovers are something to reflect on, but I think we pulled away in the second half because of our defense,” he said.

“In the second half, our shots went in, and the fast break and rebound were also good. I am grateful that all the players who went in are working really hard,” he added.

Lee Ho-hyun top-scored for the Egis with 11 points, Lee Seung-hyun added 10 markers and Filipino-American import Calvin Epistola ended with two points, three assists and a rebound.

They dropped to a 3-4 win-loss slate./ASC, WDJ