SJ Belangel catches fire in Daegu KOGAS’ KBL win

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Filipino star point guard SJ Belangel brought the house down with his insane shooting and led the Daegu KOGAS basketball club to another win in the 2022 season of the Korean Basketball League (KBL).

After stuffing the stat sheets in their win against the Wonju DB Promy basketball club, Belangel continued his efficient performance and exploded for 25 points against Goyang and got away with the victory, 92-83.

Belangel found his shooting rhythm at the most perfect time when Daegu was making a run when the second quarter was about to end.

It was a difficult offensive stretch for the Daegu squad after missing several wide-open shots but once Belangel connected from the three-point range, everyone else contributed and recovered in the second half.

The former Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles buried six total three-pointers including two big-time answers to Goyang’s fiery offensive run in the last quarter.

With Daegu protecting a 12-point lead in the last 2:30 of the game, the KBL club turned to Belangel and provided the early exclamation point after draining a tough step-back jumper in the left elbow.

Backstopping the Gilas Pilipinas young cadet was Lee Daesung who went unconscious in the fourth quarter and ended up with 20 points and five assists.

Murphy Holloway and Lee Daeheon also balled out for the Daegu squad and scored 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, the injured Rhenz Abando was already back for Anyang KGC and registered 10 minutes of action after healing his right hip.

The NCAA Rookie Most Valuable Player (MVP) still put up decent numbers despite the limited action and tallied six points and four rebounds.