By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Samjosef Belangel and the Daegu Korea Gas Corporation Pegasus failed to reach the semifinal round of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) after a 78-76 loss to the Suwon KT Sonicboom in the do-or-die Game 5 of the quarterfinals at the Suwon KT Arena on Sunday, April 20.

The Negrense guard finished with 13 points, five assists, four rebounds, and one block as the Pegasus failed to protect their lead late in the game to suffer a heartbreaking defeat.

“I’m so grateful to the players,” Pegasus head coach Kang Hyuk said.

“I want to tell all the players that they worked hard. It was a great game where the players’ fighting spirit stood out,” he added.

Holding to a 76-74 lead after a conversion from Pegasus’ Kim Jun-il with more than a minute remaining, Sonicboom’s JD Cagulangan responded with a three-pointer to tie the count at 76-all with 49 seconds left.

Following a missed triple by Belangel, Sonicboom took a 78-76 advantage on a layup by Heo Hoon with 2.8 left in the game.

Daegu tried to snatch the win at the buzzer, but Andrew Nicholson’s three-point attempt was blocked.

Cagulangan, the KBL Rookie of the Year winner, finished with 12 points, including four three-pointers, to go with four assists, one rebound and a steal as the Sonicboom won the best-of-five series at 3-2.

Ha Yu-ngi led the way with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Moon Jeong-hyeon added 13 markers, while Hoon and Rayshaun Hammonds contributed 12 markers apiece for the Sonicboom.

Nicholson tallied a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Pegasus.

Kim Nak-hyeon contributed 14 markers./ASC, WDJ