Barefield, Dragons claim EASL third-place honors

OKINAWA – Fil-Am Sedrick Barefield beat Gilas Pilipinas young gun Carl Tamayo to the honors of getting a maiden podium finish with his new club.

Barefield’s Bay Area Dragons trounced Tamayo’s Ryukyu Golden Kings in their own turf, 90-70, to capture third place in the East Asia Super League Champions Week yesterday at the Okinawa Stadium.

The 6-foot-2 Barefield, who joined Bay Area as Asian import after its runner-up finish in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, delivered 17 points and six rebounds off the bench to backstop Myles Powell (29) and Andrew Nicholson (18) in taking the bronze.

Powell, Nicholson, Barefield and Hayden Blankley joined forces to drop a 28-14 salvo in the second period to transform a two-point contest into a 16-point game going to intermission.

There’s no looking back from there for Brian Goorjian’s charges, who earlier secured their place in the third place match after beating the Utsunomiya Brex in Utsunomiya, 96-90.