Tamayo wins Korean Basketball League title with Changwon

MANILA, Philippines — The legend of Carl Tamayo continues to grow.

The Filipino forward added another championship in his trophy case, this time in Korea, after helping the Changwon LG Sakers get its maiden championship in the Korean Basketball League after a 62-58 Game 7 win over Seoul SK Knights Saturday.

Changwon, which was leading the championship series 3-0, averted a reverse-sweep loss to raise the team’s first title since joining the league in 1997.

Heo Il-Young paced the LG Sakers with 14 points and five rebounds, while Tamayo had 12 points and 10 rebounds on 5-of-17 shooting.

Jameel Warney and Kim Sun-hyung powered Seoul with 11 points apiece.

Filipino import Juan Gomez de Liano did not suit up for the SK Kinghts.

The two teams were kept in a close fight throughout the game, with Changwon but Changwon did just enough to keep their opponents at bay.

Tamayo has now won a championship in every team he has joined.

He won two championships with National University Bullpups in the UAAP juniors ranks, along with one for the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons in college.

The sweet-shooting big man also won a title with the Ryukyu Golden Kings in the Japan B.League.

And the title capped off an excellent season for Tamayo, who was named among the KBL’s Best Five. He was also named the MVP of the KBL’s third round.