ALEX Stepheson was on the winning side after playing his first game against his former team.
A former Meralco import, Stepheson had 21 points and 31 rebounds in Blackwater’s 94-91 overtime win over the Bolts on Sunday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The 31-year-old Stepheson started out slow in the game after scoring six points in the first half, admitting he was excited to face Meralco in his first game back in the PBA and play against his former teammates.
“I was excited to play Meralco from the beginning,” said Stepheson, who played for Meralco in 2017. “In the first quarter, I was very excited that I was losing energy, just being overhyped playing against them, rushing shots.”
“Once I settled down and started talking trash, it calms you a bit,” Stepheson said.
A former NBA player with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies, Stepheson likes the potential of the team especially with Blackwater now being bolstered by Ray Parks, who is playing his first conference with the Elite after finishing his commitments with San Miguel Alab Pilipinas.
“Ray played good in his first game in the PBA. It was an impressive game. Ray is really, really good,” said Stepheson, a North Carolina and University of Southern California standout.
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