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[av_heading heading=’PBA GOV’S CUP
Meralco dominates Blackwater, 107-78 ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – Meralco Bolts kicked off its campaign in the 2017 Oppo PBA Governor’s Cup with a lopsided 107-78 victory over the Blackwater Elite last night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Baser Amer led the way with 20 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Bolts, which tied NLEX Road Warriors and Phoenix Fuel Masters on top of the standings with 1-0 win-loss slate.
Reinforcement Allen Durham added 18 points and 21 rebounds, while Garvo Lanete, Jared Dillinger and Chris Newsome contributed 15, 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Bolts.
After the Elite scored the game’s first basket courtesy of Raymond Aguilar, it was all Bolts as Lanete and Amer spearheaded a huge 24-4 scoring run to build a 32-15 edge on triples by Clifford Hodge and Dillinger.
The Bolts continued its dominance in the second quarter on hits by Amer, Lanete and Durham to increase the lead further to 63-34 at the half on late hits from Hodge, Durham and Joseph Sedurifa.
The Elite still failed to find an answer to the hot shooting of the Bolts in the second half, allowing the latter to build its largest lead at 95-59 on a conversion by Dillinger and Kelly Nabong.
“It’s exactly the type of start we hoped for. We are looking to complete our unfinished business last year,” said Bolts head coach Norman Black pertaining to their runner-up finish last season.
Import Trevis Simpson led the way with 25 points, while Riego Gamalinda added 10 markers for the Elite, which tied KIA Picanto and Alaska Aces at 0-1.
BOX SCORE:
MERALCO 107 – Amer 20, Durham 18, Lanete 15, Dillinger 14, Newsome 13, Hodge 11, Hugnatan 4, Nabong 4, Sedurifa 2, Yeo 2, Caram 2, Faundo 2, Atkins 0, Chua 0.
BLACKWATER 78 – Simpson 25, Gamalinda 10, Sena 7, Cruz 7, Digregorio 6, Sumang 5, Erram 4, Canaleta 3, Pascual 3, Aguilar 2, Miranda 2, Banal 2, Cervantes 2, Pinto 0, Buenafe 0.
Quarterscores: 32-15, 63-34, 88-52, 107-78./PN
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