EASTERN won its second straight game behind a blistering third-quarter that overwhelmed Blackwater, 84-75, on Tuesday in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Chris McLaughlin made an immediate impact in his first PBA game as import of the Hong Kong-based guest team, which outscored Blackwater, 27-9, in the third quarter of what until then was a close game.
That single explosion erased Eastern’s 49-39 deficit and put it on the way to a fourth win in five games while dealing Blackwater its third straight defeat.
McLaughlin, coming in as a replacement for Cameron Clark, finished the game with 32 points and 23 rebounds.
Glen Yang added 14 points and seven rebounds in only two minutes of rest, as Kobey Lam had 10 points and 11 rebounds in his best game of the conference since returning to the PBA after playing for the Bay Area Dragons during the 2022-23 season.
READ Eastern activates McLaughlin, relegates Clark for Blackwater game
Eastern coach Mensur Bajramovic was glad the team heeded the warning of the coaching staff against Blackwater.
“We talked during our preparation that this team (Blackwater) can play very good. They can move the ball and they can score. If you don’t have patience and full energy as usual, we have a problem. We missed a lot of shots and didn’t play as a team,” said Bajramovic.
“Second half, we fixed it. We started to move the ball better, made some shots, and took control of the game. And I think we deserve to win this game,” said Bajramovic.
George King led the scoring for Blackwater with 41 points while hauling 12 rebounds, but once again got few contributions from his teammates.
Sedrick Barefield had nine points and seven rebounds for the winless Bossing, who were on the losing end of the lowest scoring game of the conference.
The scores:
Eastern 84 – McLaughlin 32, Yang 14, Lam 10, Guinchard 8, Xu 7, Cheung 5, Cao 4, Blankley 2, Pok 2, Chan 0, Zhu 0.
Blackwater 75 – King 41, Barefield 9, Suerte 9, Chua 4, Kwekuteye 4, David 4, Ilagan 3, Ponferrada 1, Casio 0, Hill 0, Guinto 0, Escoto 0.
Quarters: 23-21; 39-49; 66-58; 84-75.
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