By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense Samjosef Belangel and the Daegu Korea Gas Corporation Pegasus suffered an 88-81 defeat to the Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus in the Korean Basketball League at the Ulsan Dongcheon Gymnasium.

The Negrense guard finished with a team-high 23 points, including five three-point conversions, to go with three assists, two steals and a rebound, but the Pegasus still dropped to a 13-10 win-loss slate.

“It’s a shame that we gave up a lot of points at the start of the first quarter,” Pegasus head coach Kang Hyuk said.

“I think the result would have been different if we had gotten off to a good start,” he added.

Park Moo-bin top-scored for Ulsan with 17 points, including two three-pointers.

Shawn Long added 16 markers, while Ham Ji-hoon and Gaige Prim ended with 15 and 14 markers, respectively.

Filipino guard Miguel Oczon finished with eight points, three rebounds and one assist in 13 minutes of action as the Mobis Phoebus stayed in second place with a 17-7 win-loss record.

“I am so grateful to the players. They led us to victory in the last game of 2024,” Mobis Phoebus head coach Cho Dong-hyun said after the game.

“I think we will start 2025 with good energy,” he said.

“Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus basketball does not depend on one person. We had good results because everyone did their part. We will work hard to show a better performance in 2025,” he continued.

Andrew Nicholson tallied 19 points and eight rebounds, while Kim Nak-hyun added 16 markers for the Pegasus./ASC, WDJ