San Miguel falls to Eastern, remains winless in EASL

The San Miguel Beermen remained winless in the East Asia Super League after falling to Hong Kong Eastern, 84-74, Wednesday at the Philsports Arena.

San Miguel was trailing 75-68 with 3:29 remaining in the fourth period after a June Mar Fajardo basket, while Chris Mclaughlin widened the lead anew for Eastern at the 2:33 mark. Fajardo again trimmed the deficit but back-to-back baskets from Kobey Lam and Cameron Clark gave Eastern a 12-point lead with less than a minute left. Don Trollano tried to cut San Miguel's deficit anew but time was on Eastern's side as Lam scored another basket to seal the win, despite Juami Tiongson's late basket.

Eastern started strong and led 30-11 by the end of the opening period before taking a 48-32 lead at the end of the first half.

Fajardo registered 20 points, 13 boards, three assists, two blocks, and a steal, while Trollano also added 20 points of his own as the also-ran Beermen sank to 0-5.

Clark had 25 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a block to lead Eastern, while McLaughlin had 15 points as the Hong Kong-based squad improved to 3-2.

The Beermen will still face the Suwon KT Sonicboom on February 12.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News