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February 7, 2025 | 3:06pm
MANILA, Philippines — Carl Tamayo is gearing up for another Gilas Pilipinas tour of duty on a high with an unstoppable streak in the Korean Basketball League (KBL).
The versatile forward impressed yet again with 21 points on 9-of-16 clip laced by six rebounds and six assists as the Changwon LG Sakers beat the Busan KCC Egis, 90-80, at the Changwon Gymnasium to barge back into the win column.
It’s the ninth win in the last 11 games for Changwon, interestingly since Tamayo’s breakout run to start the New Year ignited by a 37-point eruption against the Seoul Samsung Thunders.
The 6-foot-8 Tamayo has not scored lower than seven points in that solid stretch featuring 31, 24 and 17-point eruptions before another good outing against Busan.
With Tamayo at helm, Changwon moved up to the No. 3 seed at 22-14 entering the homestretch of the KBL regular season to bolster his second international pro league championship bid after winning the Japan B. League with the Ryukyu Golden Kings in 2023.
Tamayo’s steady play is expected to serve handy for Gilas that will miss its other tower in Kai Sotto due to an ACL injury.
The former UAAP champion from the University of the Philippines is expected to rejoin the troops of coach Tim Cone next week when Gilas re-assembles for the final window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
Already assured of a ticket in the Asia Cup slated in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with a 4-0 slate in Group B, Gilas goes for a sweep on the road against Chinese Taipei on February 20 and New Zealand on February 23.
Before that, Gilas will troop to Doha for a training camp and a pocket tournament from February 14-16 against Qatar, Lebanon and Egypt.
