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| Chris Banchero and John Egbunu should be all smiles as Meralco moves on to the BCL Asia knockout phase. FIBA |
MANILA—Meralco booked its first win in the Basketball Champions League Asia after romping Utsunomiya, 97-86, on Sunday night at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall in Dubai.
Just like in its previous game against Shabab Al Ahli, Meralco went on another tear in the second quarter, outscoring Utsunomiya, 30-20, to open a 50-38 halftime lead.
This time, though, the Bolts sustained the brilliance in the second half and kept the lead in double digits for most of the last 20 minutes, even leading by as much as 20 points midway in the fourth quarter.
Glynn Watson, Chris Banchero, and Jordon Varnado each scored 17 points to lead Meralco, which moved up to 1-1 in Group B.
John Egbunu added 12 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal as Meralco, following Zhejiang's 85-99 loss to Tabiat that dropped the CBA champ to 0-2 in Group A, clinched a spot in the quarterfinals.
Isaac Fotu led Utsunomiya with 20 points, six rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Box Scores:
Meralco 97–Banchero 17, Varnado 17, Watson 17, Hodge 16, Egbunu 12, Almazan 8, Black 6, Newsome 4, Quinto 0
Utsunomiya 86–Fotu 20, Newbill 15, Delany 12, Hiejima 11, Takeuchi 9, Ogawa 8, Endo 6, Takashima 3, Watanabe 2, Hoshikawa 0, Ikaruga 0, Murakishi 0
Quarterscores: 20–18, 50–38, 77–65, 97–86
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