BANGKOK, Thailand — Christian Standhardinger continues to live up to the hype.
The Filipino-German big man exploded with 40 points and pulled down 17 rebounds in powering Hong Kong Eastern Sports Club past Thailand’s Mono Vampire, 112-105, in a tight ASEAN Basketball League affair at the Mono 29 studio here.
Standhardinger scored seven points in the final three minutes to keep HK Eastern in the driver’s seat.
Fellow Filipinos Paul Zamar and Jason Brickman combined for 23 markers for Vampire to keep their opponents within striking range.
But Standhardinger was just too much of a presence down low to be even countered by the Thailand club’s Reginald Johnson, who paced Mono with 31 points.
The incoming PBA rookie shot 15 of his 20 looks within the perimeter. He had three dimes to go with his five steals.
The victory was HK Eastern third straight in the ABL. They opened the season with a win at the expense of Tanduay-Alab Pilipinas.
Mono, for its part, dropped to 3-2 in the league after collecting three straight.
The scores:
HONG KONG EASTERN 112 — Standhardinger 40, Elliott 19, Lamb 19, Lee 19, Lau 12, Xu 3, Chung 0, Ip 0, Tang 0.
MONO VAMPIRE 105 — Johnson 31, Chanthachon 15, Sanders 15, Kruatiwa 13, Brickman 12, Zamar 11, Apiromvilaichai 4, Phuangla 4, Ananti 0, Boonyai 0.
Quarters: 29-27, 59-49, 84-77, 112-105.