Carl Tamayo and the Changwon LG Sakers take a commanding lead in the 2025 KBL Finals, spoiling Juan Gomez de Liaño’s best game in Korea.
It was a battle of two Fighting Maroons in the clutch as Carl Tamayo staved off Juan Gomez de Liaño’s Seoul SK Knights, and the Changwon LG Sakers took a 76-71 win in Game 2 of the KBL Finals at the Jamsil Students’ Gymnasium on Wednesday.
The victory pushed the 2-seed LG Sakers to a commanding 2-0 lead as the series shifts to Changwon.
Tamayo continued to be the cornerstone of Changwon’s offense, finishing with a game-high 27 points to go along with seven rebounds, and one steal. Meanwhile, his fellow former UP standout Gomez de Liaño finally got to play meaningful minutes as Seoul tried to adjust to the LG Sakers’ game plan.
Despite playing sparingly all season, Gomez de Liaño got the chance of his life and made the most of it, scoring a KBL career-high 19 points with four rebounds and two assists. He also got his heaviest minutes ever as part of the main SK Knights squad with 23:42 minutes of action.
The two UAAP products traded clutch baskets as Gomez de Liaño tried to will his team back into the game and in the series.
After Tamayo hit clutch freebies to put Changwon ahead, 71-66, with 1:10 ticks left in the ball game, Gomez de Liaño scored in the next possession to keep things interesting. That basket capped a 10-point quarter for the Filipino guard.
But even as teams traded big threes in the following 30 seconds, it was Tamayo’s LG Sakers that were able to hang on to the victory, thanks to Yoo Ki-sang’s cool and collected trip to the line, making both free throws to seal the final score.
Behind Gomez de Liaño, Jameel Warney finished with 17 points, 12 boards, four assists, two steals, and one block for the top-ranked SK Knights.
Meanwhile, Ki-sang backstopped Tamayo’s big game for Changwon with 14 points built off of four three-pointers.