It would be the first meeting between two of the newest teams in the ABL as the CLS Knights Indonesia take on the undefeated Chongson Kung Fu Basketball Club on Saturday, January 6, at the GOR CLS Kertajaya, Surabaya.
CLS started their season with a win but they have since dropped their last four games. They looked formidable in their debut with Brian Williams and Duke Crews and their locals stepped up when the two World Imports went down with injuries. Crews was unavailable from that point on for the Knights and neither of Crews’ temporary replacements, Evan Brock and Decorey Jones, could not help them get a win.
In their previous game, CLS went toe-to-toe with the Singapore Slingers but unfortunately ran out of steam towards the end. They also committed a woeful 24 turnovers that led to their downfall as Xavier Alexander took over the game in the final interval.
Chong Son Kung Fu, on the other hand, hopes to stay within striking distance of the league-leading Hong Kong Eastern Basketball Team. In their first three games, they have won by an average margin of 22 points.
Leading the way for the Chinese club is Anthony Tucker who is averaging 24.5 points, 10 rebounds, and 7.5 assists.
Chong Son added another potent weapon to their already loaded rotation in Filipino-American Mikh McKinney. The 6’0” guard had a successful career in college playing for Sacramento State in California. He went on to play in Belgium and in the NBA G-League, suiting up for the Delaware 87ers, before eventually making his way to China. McKinney will replace Jonathan Bermillo in Kung Fu’s roster.
The CLS Knights will be hoping to end their losing streak while Chong Son hopes to continue their winning ways.
