MANILA, Philippines — A win in the East Asia Super League (EASL) remains elusive for the San Miguel Beermen.
San Miguel remained winless in the international tournament, succumbing against Hong Kong Eastern, 84-74, in their 2025 EASL clash Wednesday evening at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The home team fell behind by double digits as early as the first quarter and were unable to dig themselves out of that hole.
Cameron Clark powered Hong Kong with 25 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a block. Chris McLaughlin added 15 markers, 17 boards, five dimes, three steals and a swat.
Eastern started the game off with nine straight points, before a split from the line by Andreas Cahilig halted the run.
But the visitors continued to pounce on the Beermen, pushing the lead to 19, 26-7, after a McLaughlin layup with 2:19 left in the quarter.
It was more of the same through the next frames, but San Miguel eventually pulled to within 10, 42-52, after a layup by Don Trollano at the 7:27 mark of the third.
Hong Kong, though, hit their shots and regained a 16 point lead, 62-46.
The lead grew to 25, 75-50, in the fourth after a pair of freebies by Kobey Lam.
San Miguel, though, started to wax hot, closing the gap to just seven, 68-75, after 18 unanswered points capped by a tip by June Mar Fajardo.
But seven points was the closest the Beermen got to, as Lam and Clark hit daggers down the stretch to secure Hong Kong’s third straight win in the home-and-away tourney.
Glen Yang and Hayden Blankley chipped in 11 each for Eastern, while Lam had 10.
Fajardo and Trollano carried the load for the Beermen with 20 each. The former had 13 boards, three dimes, two swats and a steal, while the latter had five assists and four rebounds.
Imports Torren Jones and Jabari Narcis had subpar performances. Jones had just six points in 20 minutes, while Narcis went scoreless in less than seven minutes of floor time.
Hong Kong is now sitting at 3-2 — third in Group A — while the Beermen dropped to 0-5.
Eastern will cap off their elimination round against the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots on February 5; while San Miguel will try to finally tally a win in the league a week later against the Suwon KT Sonicboom, who lost their last two games.