MANILA, Philippines — The Anyang KGC hardly missed Rhenz Abando as the Filipino had a quiet performance in Game One of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) semifinals against the Goyang Carrot Jumpers, 99-43, at the Anyang Indoor Gymnasium on Thursday.
Abando played 10 minutes and attempted only two shots as he ended up with two points, one rebound and one block in the wire-to-wire victory for the league-leading KGC.
Instead, Anyang leaned on Omari Spellman's 22 points, five rebounds and five assists in the rout with five other Anyang players also breaching double-digit scoring.
The home team jumped to a 27-9 opening quarter to blow the game wide open from the get-go.
They ballooned their advantage to as big as 57 points and more importantly took control of the best-of-five series with the early 1-0 lead.
Anyang will seek the 2-0 advantage when Game Two tips off Saturday at 1 p.m.
Another Filipino player is also in the semifinals as Justin Gutang and the Changwon LG Sakers begin their series against the Seoul SK Knights Friday at 6 p.m., Manila time.
Meanwhile, RJ Abarrientos' Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus were booted out of the playoffs in the quarterfinals by the Carrot Jumpers in five games.