Aug 17, 2018

Big second half by Durham, Amer lift Meralco past Columbian Dyip

THERE'S a big reason why Allen Durham is the reigning back-to-back Best Import in the PBA Governors Cup and on Friday he came up with plenty of the right stuff to bolster his case.

Durham came up with a 20-20 game and almost had a triple double in leading Meralco to a 109-106 nail-bitter over gritty Columbian at the start of the season-ending tournament's 2018 edition at the Ynares center in Antipolo.

Baser Amer, Mike Tolomia, Ranidel de Ocampo and even KG Canaleta provided the needed help, but it was mostly Durham's 26 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists that enabled the Bolts to hold off the Dyip and launch their bid on a high note.

Obviously, Meralco coach Norman Black was pleased with the way his charges found a way to regroup following a bad start to trail by as many as 14 points twice early and then again recovered after blowing a 12-point third quarter lead of their own.

"Definitely a good start for us this conference. It was a tough win. They played quite well as a team and their import is very good. It's very difficult to stop him tonight," said Black.

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Black was referring to Columbian import Akeem Wright, who made his own adjustments in the second half to finish with 30 points and 14 rebounds before leaving the game following a bad fall, 1.4 ticks left.

That left the Dyip with no choice but to go to Roider Cabrera for the game-tying triple try that he missed and allowed Black to heave a big sigh of relief.

"Our first half was a little bit shaky," admitted Black.

"We didn't get off to a good start, especially in that second quarter. But we were able to fix things at the halftime, made some adjustments and played a lot better in the third quarter. We gave that away at the start of the fourth quarter, but we recovered enough to win in the end."

Amer wound up with 23 points and Tolomia added 14 after booming in his first four tries from beyond the arc. Cliff Hodge, De Ocampo and Anjo Caram chipped in at least 10 points each.

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Canaleta scored only nine points, but foiled Jackson Corpuz's undergoal try and preserved Meralco's 108-106 lead.

It was mostly Amer in the fourth quarter as he scattered 12 of his points. His drive also proved to be the final go-ahead basket, shattering the game's last deadlock at 106 and giving Meralco the lead going to the game's last 60 seconds.

Jerramy King scored 24 points and Glen Khobuntin 10 for the only other double digit scorers for Columbian as Rashawn McCarthy struggled mightily on offense, finishing with seven assists but only five points on 2-for-10 shooting.

Wright actually also found it tough in his league debut, missing 10 of his first 14 shots.

But Columbian still led by 49-35 and 51-37 when the likes of Eric Camson, Russell Escoto and Reden Celda were able to contribute.

Then Durham fully buckled down to work in the third quarter, where he scored 13 of his points and powered Meralco from a 43-53 halftime deficit to as much as an 85-73 lead before King's fourth of five triples made it a 76-85 count, going to the final canto. (NC)

The scores:

Meralco 109 - Durham 26, Amer 23, Tolomia 14, Hodge 11, Caram 10, De Ocampo 10, Canaleta 9, Salva 4, Newsome 2, Lanete 0, Bono 0, Hugnatan 0.

Columbian 106 - Wright 30, King 24, Khobuntin 10, Corpuz 10, Camson 8, Escoto 8, McCarthy 5, Celda 5, Tubid 2, Cabrera 2, Cahilig 2, Lastimosa 0.

Quarters: 26-25, 43-53, 85-76, 109-106.