By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense Samjosef Belangel and the Daegu Korea Gas Corporation Pegasus got back on the winning track in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) with an 85-78 win over the Changwon LG Sakers at the Daegu Gymnasium.

The former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles guard finished with 12 points, including a three-pointer, to go with three rebounds, three steals and two assists for the Pegasus.

Andrew Nicholson tallied a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, Kim Nak-hyun added 16 markers, while Youssopha Ndoye contributed 11 points for Daegu, which snapped a two-game losing skid to improve to a 10-6 win-loss slate.

Pegasus head coach Kang Hyuk lauded the timely contributions of Belangel in the match, but also called out his other players’ lack of effort at rebounding the ball and defense.

“I am grateful for Belangel’s contributions to this game,” Kang said in a post-game interview.

“The offensive rebounds were not good, even if we had more compared to Changwon. Also, we lost concentration in the third quarter,” he added.

Assem Marei had a near triple-double performance of 19 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, while Jeong In-deok contributed 11 markers, including three three-pointers, for the LG Sakers.

For his part, Carl Tamayo finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and one assist as the LG Sakers remained in eighth place in the standings, winning just five of their 15 matches.

Meanwhile, Calvin Epistola and the Busan KCC Egis returned to their winning ways with an 80-74 victory over the Seoul SK Knights at the Busan Sajik Gymnasium on Tuesday night, December 10.

The Filipino-American Epistola failed to score in three attempts but contributed seven assists, five steals and four rebounds as the defending champions Egis improved to an 8-7 win-loss slate.

Choi Jun-yong led the way with 42 points, including six three-pointers, to go with 13 rebounds, while Leon Williams contributed a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Egis./ASC, WDJ