Liaoning Flying Leopards enter Terrific 12 Finals, show San Miguel the door

Lance Stephenson

The Liaoning Flying Leopards punched their ticket to the East Asia Super League - Terrific 12 finals with a resounding 111-89 win over the San Miguel Beermen, Saturday at the Tap Seac Multi-Sport Pavilion in Macau. It took a crippling 23-2 run in the second quarter by the Flying Leopards, crowned Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) champions in 2017, to end the tournament lives of the Beermen - one of three representatives sent by the PBA. Liaoning imports and NBA standouts Lance Stephenson (196-G/F-90, college: Cincinnati) and Salah Mejri (217-C-86) presided over that scoring blitz which took the fight out early from the reigning PBA Commissioner's and Philippine Cup titlists. Two free throws and a scoop layup from Mejri gave the Flying Leopards a 45-30 headway with 1:33 remaining in the second. Stephenson closed out the first half with a buzzer-beating triple that pushed Liaoning to a commanding 51-30 lead. Stephenson already had 23 points by halftime, as the Beermen had a difficult time shackling the eight-year NBA veteran. Subbed out in the final 2:27 with his team up 106-86, the former Cincinnati Bearcat already had 35 points and 10 rebounds across his name. His counterpart over at San Miguel, Dezmine Wells (196-G-92, college: Maryland), struggled in the first half with just seven points on 3-of-12 field goal shooting. Two nights ago, Wells erupted for 42 points in the Beermen's 101-92 victory over the Ryukyu Golden Kings. Mejri, who suited up for Tunisia in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, also finished with a double-double consisting of 21 markers and 11 rebounds. Team captain ShiYan Gao (185-G-96) added 14 points for the Flying Leopards, who will take on the Seoul SK Knights in the championship game tomorrow. Terrence Romeo (180-PG-92) tallied 19 points to pace San Miguel, who was relegated to the bronze medal match against the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions. Wells contributed 16 markers, while Lester Prosper netted 15. A cash prize worth $150,000 awaits the tournament champions. The runner-up settles for $100,000 while second runner-up gets $50,000.
Courtesy of: foxsports.ph


Tags : LANCE STEPHENSON, LIAONING FLYING LEOPARDS, CHINESE BASKETBALL