Lance Stephenson lifts Liaoning past San Mig

MANILA, Philippines — Liaoning erected a 21-point lead in the first half last night and run away with a 111-89 victory over San Miguel Beer in their semifinal duel in the 2019 East Asia Super League Terrific 12 at the Tap Seac Stadium in Macau.

Former Los Angeles Laker Lance Stephenson triggered Liaoning’s early onslaught by scoring 23 of his game-high 35 points in the first half. He capped his show of force with a three-point shot at the buzzer.

Liaoning, a semifinalist in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), led at the half, 51-30, and never looked back to advance to the finals of the eight-team tournament against the Seoul SK Knights of the Korean Basketball League tonight.

The Beermen, seeking a rare grand slam in the 2019 PBA season, was relegated to the 5 p.m. battle for third against the Zhejiang Golden Lions, who fell to the SK Knights in their own semis encounter, 77-76.

The title match is set at 7 p.m.

“I got great respect for the (San Miguel) team. They played really hard but we played hard and had fun,” Stephenson said.

Salah Mejri, the other import for Liaoning, came off the bench and finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. He had a hand in Liaoning’s second-quarter onslaught – a mighty 25-7 run.

Terrence Romeo dazzled his way to 19 points while SMB import Dez Wells chipped in 16 points. Their other import, Lester Prosper, had 15 points.

Talk N Text and Blackwater, the other PBA clubs that saw action in the Terrific 12 tournament, did not get past the preliminaries.

The Score

Liaoning 111 – Stephenson 35, Mejri 21, S. Gao 14, T. He 13, Z. Liu 9, X. Guo 9, H. Wang 4, M. Cong 3, X. Li 3, Z. Yu

San Miguel Beer 89 – Romeo 19, Wells 16, Prosper 15, Pessumal 11, Cabagnot 9, Standhardinger 8, Nabong 6, Ross 2, Santos 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 0

Quarterscores: 26-23, 51-30, 85-63, 111-88