Arvin Tolentino played a key role behind Jameel Warney as the Seoul SK Knights returned to KBL action with a win over the now JD Cagulangan-less Suwon KT Sonicboom.
Arvin Tolentino connived with Jameel Warney to lead the Seoul SK Knights to victory over the Suwon KT Sonicboom, 94-84, in the 2025-26 KBL regular season at the Jamsil Students’ Gymnasium on Saturday.
Tolentino, who saw his double-digit performance in the East Asia Super League go down the drain in a loss to Hong Kong Eastern earlier this week, continued to be a reliable source of offense, finishing with 24 points in more than 31 minutes of play.
He played aggressively and was able to send himself to the charity stripe often in the game, going 9-of-12 on free throws.
Tolentino also had two rebounds and two assists, playing a key supporting role to Warney’s double-double performance of 27 points and 14 rebounds.
Sung-Wook Kang paced Suwon in the losing effort with 19 points, as the Sonicboom now endure the absence of reigning Rookie of the Year JD Cagulangan due to knee injury.
Seoul made it back-to-back KBL wins and improved to 17-12, while Suwon is now the loser of two straight and fell below .500 with a 15-16 slate.
Elsewhere, Carl Tamayo also missed action due to an injury but the league-leading Changwon LG Sakers emerged victorious over the Goyang Sono Skygunners, 87-74, at the Changwon Gymnasium.
Tamayo sat out the game reportedly due to a knee injury.
Jeong In-Deok stepped up in his absence with 19 points, two rebounds, and one assist while Goyang’s Filipino import Kevin Quiambao had 14 points, eight rebounds, and one assist in the losing effort.
Changwon improved to 22-8, while Goyang continued its tough season with an 11-19 mark.
In the other game, SJ Belangel’s Daegu KOGAS emerged victorious over the KCC Egis, 89-75, at the Sajik Arena as he battled fellow Atenean Will Navarro.
Belangel’s 16 points, four rebounds, and five assists served as support to Gilas Pilipinas naturalization candidate Bennie Boatwright’s 28 points and four rebounds, towing Daegu to the victory.
Navarro, for his part, had 14 points, six boards, and three assists in the losing effort for KCC Egis.
KOGAS finally breached double-digit wins, improving to 10-20 while KCC Egis skidded to their sixth straight defeat at 16-14.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.