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| Eddie Basden and Arwind Santos make an imposing pair for the Petron Blaze Boosters. |
RAIN OR SHINE ELASTO-PAINTERS over ALASKA ACES, 107-100
With an impressive debut, Jamelle Cornley may have just secured a prolonged stay in
the PBA. Cornley had 27 points and 10 rebounds in his first game on local shores and pointed Rain or Shine to a victory over Alaska in the start of the PBA Governors Cup at the Ynares Sports Center here.
The 25-year-old Cornley was originally tapped as stand-in while last season's Governors Cup Best Import awardee Arizona Reid frees up his schedule in Germany. But with Cornley outplaying Alaska counterpart Jason Forte, six years his senior, for the most part
of the game and displaying a solid game, ROS coach Yeng Guiao's mind seems to have been made up.
"He can defend, he has a decent outside shot. He provides us an inside threat, a solid inside
threat which we need. That's gonna free up our shooters, while defensively he's a big body," enumerated Guiao.Jeff Chan delivered the most from among Rain or Shine's snipers by scattering 17 of his 20 points in the second half that repeatedly doused cold water on Alaska's desperation charge and boosted the Elasto Painters to a fine start in the season-ending tournament.
Paul Lee and Gabe Norwood also played key roles down the stretch, combining for eight points in just 74 seconds of play to pluck Rain or Shine from a 94-85 count.
But it was still Chan who provided the final dagger with his fourth triple of the night that made it a safe 105-95 count, only 12 seconds left.
"Jeff had a great game, especially his perimeter game," pointed out Guiao of Chan, who missed only
three attempts from beyond the arc and went a perfect 6-of-6 from the stripe.
Despite a listless start, Forte and his teammates caught fire in the second half with the import on his third tour of duty here finishing with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Cyrus Baguio had 19 and LA Tenorio 16, all in the second half.
Yet Alaska still found itself dropping its very first game under new interim head coach Luigi Trillo, while Rain or Shine could breathe a little easier going to its next outing in the sprint-like nine-game eliminations.
ROS 107 - Cornely 27, Chan 20, Lee 17, Arana 11, Quinahan 7, Belga 6, Buenafe 6, Cruz 5, Norwood 3, Ibanes 3, Tang 2, Matias 0.
ALA 100 - Forte 25, Baguio 19, Tenorio 16, Thoss 15, Baracael 13, Espinas 6, Custodio 4, Gonzales 2, Eman 0, Salamat 0.
QS: 32-17, 53-35, 78-63, 107-100
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| Gabby Espinas struggled in his first outing as a member of the Alaska Aces. |
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| If he keeps it up, Jamelle Cornley might have a long stay in the PBA. |
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| Jeff Chan came up big for ROS, as he helped quell Alaska's second half rally. |
PETRON BLAZE BOOSTERS over POWERADE TIGERS, 91-77
Petron Blaze opened its title retention bid with a bang, holding off a second-half charge by Powerade before prevailing in the start of the PBA Governors Cup Sunday night in Antipolo City.
Import Eddie Basden made an impressive debut with a double-double performance and proved to be a right fit for a Boosters squad that has gotten stronger and looks primed to defend its crown. The former Chicago Bull finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, capping his all-around performance with five straight points in the midst of the Tigers’ rally. His three-pointer and a bucket inside the final 2:29 of the game gave the Boosters a 91-77 lead.
From there, there was no looking back for Petron Blaze, which joined Rain or Shine quickly in the win column.
The Boosters, however, played minus its key acquisition, Marcio Lassiter, who fractured his right hand during a tune up game against Rain or Shine.
The two teams, which got involved in a major trade before the start of the conference, still went to their old reliables when it mattered most.
The Tigers still banked on Gary David and import Rashad McCants, another NBA veteran, but didn’t get something positive from new acquisition Rabeh Al-Hussaini, who was thrown out of the game early in the second period for committing a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2 against Dorian Pena.
And with Romel Adducul also in foul trouble, the Tigers were simply outhustled and outplayed in the interior with only Jondan Salvador manning the middle as the Boosters took a 57-36 half time lead. But just like what they did in the Philippine Cup where it made a Cinderella run all the way to the finals, Powerade fought like a wounded tiger.
A blistering 20-2 run capped by McCant’s triple, shoved the Tigers to within three, 59-56, before Powerade coach Bo Perasol decided to insert his second unit and the Boosters were able to take advantage to pull away anew.
PBB 97 -- Basden 28, Cabagnot 17, Santos 16, Pena 7, Lutz 6, Miranda 6, Reyes 5, Baclao 4, Yeo 4, Washington 4.
POW 83 -- Mc Cants 27, David 26, Salvador 7, Casio 5, Anthony 4, Al-Hussaini 4, Adducul 4, Lingganay 3, Vanlandingham 3, Guevarra 0, Calimag 0, Tugade 0.
QS: 26-20, 57-36, 70-63, 97-83
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| Rashad McCants failed to lead the Tigers to a win in the opening of the 2012 Governor's Cup. |
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| Alex Cabagnot was in prime form as the Boosters started the Governor's Cup on a high note. |
Source: Unless otherwise specified, game recaps were compressed and compiled from PBA.ph
Images: All images are by Paolo Papa/InterAKTV.com
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