MANILA – Myles Powell marked his return as Bay Area Dragons import with a bang. They walloped Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 120-87, in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Powell, who replaced big man Andrew Nicholson as Bay Area’s import, drilled 11 triples on his way to 50 points to go with 10 rebounds in just three quarters of action.
Seven-foot-five big man Liu Chuanxing added 11 markers and nine boards, while Kobe Lam and Siong Jianhua had nine each as the Dragons improved to 7-2 win-loss slate.
Coming from a close and controversial 79-82 loss to Meralco Bolts a week ago, the Dragons did not waste time imposing its dominance on the Painters with Powell dropping 30 points for a 57-42 halftime lead.
Bay Area continued its outburst in the third quarter. Powell added 20 more points, as the lead reached its largest at 33 points late in the final quarter.
Anton Asistio led the way with 20 points, on six outside hits. Rey Nambatac added 12 markers, while new import Ryan Pearson was a disappointment with just nine points. ROS dropped to 4-5.
Meanwhile, Meralco Bolts got a timely basket from Allein Maliksi in overtime to beat Blackwater Bossing, 102-98. The Bolts racked its second straight win for a 3-5 slate, the Bossing dropped to 3-7.
With the score tied at 96-all with under a minute remaining in the extension period, Maliksi broke the deadlock for the Bolts with a booming three-pointer from the corner.
The Bossing cut the deficit to 98-99 with two free throws from Mike Ayonayon but three free throws by Aaron Black and KJ McDaniels sealed the win for the Bolts.
McDaniels finished the game with double-double 26 points and 16 rebounds, Black added 18, while Chris Banchero, Maliksi and Kier John Quinto had 17, 16 and 12, respectively./PN
BOX SCORE:
BAY AREA 120 – Powell 50, Liu 11, Song 9, Lam 9, Ju 7, Blankley 6, Zhu 6, Ewing 6, Si 6, Zheng 4, Yang 2, Zhang 2, Reid 2, Liang 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 87 – Asistio 20, Nambatac 12, Pearson 9, Norwood 9, Nieto 8, Belga 6, Caracut 5, Ponferrada 5, Santillan 4, Clarito 3, Torres 2, Borboran 2, Demusis 2, Guinto 0, Mamuyac 0, Ildefonso 0.
Quarterscores: 28-27, 57-42, 87-58, 120-87.
