ANTIPOLO CITY – Akeem Wright lost in his PBA debut, but he was proud of the way Columbian Dyip held its ground against Meralco in the opening game of the Governors Cup on Friday night at the Ynares Center.
The 33-year-old import out of Kansas State scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the second half and added 14 rebounds, but he couldn't save the Dyip from falling to a 109-106 loss as the Bolts pulled through behind Baser Amera and Allen Durham.
But Wright wasn't totally discouraged after the loss.
“That’s a tough team, obviously they have been to the final this last two conferences,” said Wright of Meralco, twice runner-up to Barangay Ginebra in the two previous editions of the season-ending conference. “Hats off to them, they fall back, but won the game.”
Wright was a bit hard on himself after missing a stepback jumper with 50 seconds left and the Bolts clinging to a slim 108-106 lead.
“Normally that’s a shot that I make all day in practice. So I’m a little frustrated at myself,” said the import, who hurt his knee in the final seconds but appeared to be fine after the game.
Overall, he was very satisfied with the way the Dyip competed and gave themselves a good shot at winning the game in the end.
“I think we battled well all throughout the game,” he said of Columbia, which at one time, led Meralco, 49-35. “We got a lot to be happy about.”
He hopes to go all the way in their next game against Meralco.
“We have to go back and watch film and learn from our mistakes,” he said. “We still got a lot of things to work on that we need to clean up in the next few days of practice before our next game.”
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