Eastern, nasungkit ang panalo vs. Bossing

Nalusutan ng Hong Kong Eastern ang Blackwater Bossing para masungkit ang ilawang sunod nitong panalo, 84-75, sa pagpapatuloy ng PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup nitong Martes ng gabi sa Filoil EcoOil Center sa San Juan, Maynila. 

Bago nakuha ang panalo, binawian nito ang Bossing sa ikatlong quarter ng laro kung saan nagpakitang gilas agad ang bagong saltang import ng Eastern na si Chris McLaughlin na nagtala ng 32 points at 23 rebounds, tatlong assists, isang steal, at isang block.

Ayon kay McLaughlin, hinayaan lang nito na maging simple ang kanyang paglalaro at nagbunga naman umano ang kanyang ginawang training habang hindi pa ito pinapaglalaro sa koponan. 

"Coming to the game, I wanted to keep it simple - take care of the paint, rebound, play defense and the rest of the game will come to me naturally," saad ni McLaughlin.

"I've been here in Manila training with the team every practice and preparing for the moment in case I was called up to play so I stayed ready the whole time," dagdag pa ng 6-foot-10 na import.

Si McLaughlin, ang pumalit kay Cameron Clark na hindi muna pinalaro dahil sa tinamo nitong injury at kasalukuyan pang nagpapagaling.

“We also missed Cameron Clark, but he pulled his muscles. It’s nothing serious, but he needs to stay out and take treatments,” ayon kay Eastern coach  Mensur Bajramovic. 

Nag-ambag din ng 14 points at pitong rebounds si Glen Yang, habang mayroong 10 points at 11 rebounds si Kobey Lam.

Aminado naman si Bajramovic na sa first half ng kanilang laro ay totoo aniyang marami ang kanilang naging sablay lalo na sa shooting, subalit sa second half ay na kontrol na nito ang laro lalo na nang tinulungan na sila ni McLaughlin.  

“First half, we didn’t have energy. We missed a lot of shots and we didn’t play as a team. In the second half, we took control of the game,” saad ni Bajramovic.

“Chris knows everything, and he’s helping a lot, so we’ll keep working for our next games,”  dagdag pa niya.

Samantala, hindi naman umubra ang nagawang 41 points at 12 rebounds ni George King, gayundin ang mga ini-ambag na tig-siyam na puntos nina Barefield at Suerte.

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.