EASTERN played in all but five minutes with an all-Chinese line-up but was still too good for cellar-dweller Terrafirma, 134-110, on Friday in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup at the Philsports Arena.
Six locals led by Ramon Cao and Steven Guinchard scored in double figures as the Hong Kong-based guest team secured a berth in the quarterfinals even with import Chris McLaughlin seeing action for only five minutes due to an injury.
Eastern played its third game in three days across three leagues with different line-ups, but still managed to pull off its seventh win in 10 PBA games to join NorthPort and Converge at second place.
Terrafirma’s woes continued after conceding the most points this conference, staying winless in 11 games with Governors’ Cup champion TNT serving as its final game of the conference on January 22.
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Eastern got off to a slow start until it outscored Terrafirma, 45-31, in the fourth quarter. Cao had 23 points including 12 in the fourth quarter, while Kobey Lam also had 12 of his 20 points in the same stretch.
But Guinchard got Eastern rolling with 17 of his 20 points in the second quarter. He also nailed 5 for 6 from threes, and hit his only four-pointer in the game.
“Tonight’s game started actually after the first 24 minutes for us,” said Eastern coach Mensur Bajramovic, referring to the time where Eastern was only leading by four, 57-53, at the half.
“We were not good in the first two quarters. Chris’ injury was also a problem for us. They played good and we somehow survived,” said Bajramovic.
Brandon Edwards had 26 points and 17 rebounds, while Aljun Melecio had 17 points for the Dyip.
The scores:
Eastern 134 – Cao 23, Lam 20, Guinchard 19, Blankley 16, Zhu 13, Pok 11, Leung 9, Yang 7, Chan 6, Xu 4, Cheung 3, McLaughlin 2.
Terrafirma 110 – Edwards 26, Melecio 17, Pringle 16, Sangalang 13, Ferrer 12, Carino 9, Romeo 8, Paraiso 3, Hernandez 3, Manuel 2, Catapusan 1, Nonoy 0.
Quarters: 24-24; 57-53; 89-79; 134-110.
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