RJ Abarrientos continued to turn heads in the Korean Basketball League, putting up a solid outing on his debut as Ulsan Hyundai repelled Suwon KT, 85-76, on the road at the Suwon KT Arena on Saturday, Oct. 15.
Sustaining his fine form during the Phoebus runner-up finish in the KBL Cup where he first caught the attention of the entire league, Abarrientos finished with an all-around game of 13 points, seven assists and seven rebounds to help his team open the season with a bang. He shot 5-of-15 from the field including a 3-of-11 clip from beyond the arc.
He conspired with Gaige Prim who dropped 17 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks while Jang Jae Sok and Justin Knox added 12 and 10 points respectively in the wire-to-wire win.
The victory didn’t come without a scare though as the Sonicboom, who defeated Phoebus in their KBL Cup Finals encounter, 74-72, tried to climb back from a 16-point deficit, cutting the lead down to just seven, 83-76 with 1:42 left in the contest.
Both teams though came up dry in their next offensives before Ham Ji Hun slammed the door on Suwon KT’s comeback hopes after coolly sinking two free throws with 31 seconds left in the game.
Meanwhile, fellow Filipino import Rhenz Abando didn’t see action in Anyang KGC’s 88-75 victory over Seoul SK in the season opener. Former NBA player Omari Spellman showed the way with 27 points and 14 rebounds for Anyang which used a strong second half to turn back the Knights.
Ethan Alvano, on the other hand, dropped a double-double performance in his debut dropping 18 points and 10 assists but were not enough as his Wonju Dongbu Promy lost to Daegu Orions, 87-80. The former Alab Pilipinas guard spearheaded a huge second half onslaught that brought them back to the game after trailing 56-33 at the half.
Source: Manila Bulletin (https://mb.com.ph/2022/10/15/rj-abarrientos-solid-in-kbl-debut-as-ulsan-repels-suwon-kt/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rj-abarrientos-solid-in-kbl-debut-as-ulsan-repels-suwon-kt)
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