Linsanity and his New Taipei Kings score an EASL road win.
Linsanity in Manila is a win.
The New Taipei Kings held court at the PhilSports Arena, using a strong second half to shut down the Meralco Bolts, 89-77, Wednesday in Season 2 action of the East Asia Super League.
Former NBA sensation Jeremy Lin paced the P.LEAGUE+ powerhouse with 23 points, 16 in the second half, as the Kings improve to 3-0 in Group B. Lin also had 10 rebounds and four assists.
Meralco was actually up five at the break, but Lee Kai-Yan started the third with a three, and Lin added back-to-back treys to make it a 51-47 New Taipei lead.
The Kings never trailed again.
Four other players scored in double figures for New Taipei led by 13 from Yang Chin-Min. Kenneth Manigault Jr. had a nice all-around outing of 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and five steals, while Lee and Jeremy’s brother Joseph chipped in 11 apiece.
After a breakthrough win in Macau vs. B.League champion Ryukyu, Meralco couldn’t quite follow through. The Bolts lost a one-point heartbreaker to the KBL’s Seoul SK Knights, and this loss to the Kings marks back-to-back home defeats for a 1-4 record.
Zach Lofton was the high man for the Bolts with 20 points. Allein Maliksi and Chris Newsome were the top locals with 12 and 10 points respectively.