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| Guard Baser Amer topscored for Meralco in the team's win over Blackwater. |
By Ricky Manliguis
MANILA—For the Meralco Bolts, the road
to redemption starts now.
Flaunting its
deadly form that brought them to the finals last year, the Bolts made mincemeat
of Blackwater, 107-78, to win its first game in the 2017 Oppo PBA Governors’Cup
Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
With Allen Durham’s
usual production and a balanced local production, the B-Boys went out of the
gates on a rampage right from opening tip to assert its intentions for the title
in the season-ending conference.
Baser Amer scored 20 points, eight of which
coming from a 22-6 first quarter start that went to as high as 21 points, 29-8.
The former San Beda stalwart also dished out eight assists and six rebounds.
The lead
continued to swell in the second half, with Chris Newsome scoring on a dunk for
a 37-point buffer, 5:03 left in the game.
Returning Best
Import Durham contributed 18 markers plus 21 boards, while debutant Garvo Lanete went
ballistic from downtown to finish with 15.
The Bolts limited
the Elite to just 33 percent from the field while scoring 55% of their own.
“It’s exactly the
type of start we hoped for,” coach Norman Black said. “We played well in our
last two exhibition games.”
Trevis Simpson
tallied 25 points, but found little local support, as Bam Gamalinda was
the only double-digit scorer with 10.
The scores:
Meralco 107 –
Amer 20, Durham 18, Lanete 15, Dillinger 14, Newsome 13, Hodge 11, Hugnatan 4,
Nabong 4, Caram 2, Yeo 2, Sedurifa 2, Faundo 2, Chua 0, Atkins 0
Blackwater 78 –
Simpson 25, Gamalinda 10, Sena 7, Cruz 7, Digregorio 6, Sumang 5, Erram 4,
Canaleta 3, Pascual 3, Aguilar 2, Miranda 2, Banal 2, Cervantes 2, Buenafe 0,
Pinto 0
Quarterscores:
32-15, 63-34, 88-52, 107-78.
Follow him on Twitter: @Teaching_Hero
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