ANTIPOLO -- Columbian Dyip, playing way beyond expectation, made mincemeat of NLEX, 123-103, in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Ynares Sports Center here Saturday night.
Playing with effort, energy and intensity missing in their game last conference, the Columbian quintet clobbered an NLEX side that, on the other hand, struggled with injuries to key players and lack of preparation with its import.
CJ Aiken, Reden Celda, Rashawn McCarthy, Jerramy King and Eric Camson formed a lethal five that powered the team to a second win after a resounding 126-98 victory over Blackwater on opening day.
And with its 2-1 tournament start, Columbian is now assured of improvement from its 1-10 showing in the recent Philippine Cup.
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Though playing a third game in seven days, Aiken and his teammates played with tremendous energy and firepower to utterly dominate the Road Warriors.
Aiken went 3-of-3 from the arc and executed numerous jams to highlight a 28-point game, Celda came through with 26 markers, King added 23 while McCarthy flirted with a triple-double game with 13 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.
He could have completed a triple-double had he not been rested by coach Ricky Dandan with 36 seconds left to play.
"We just want to make a better showing. We have new guys who are stepping up and everybody's stepping up. Coach is pushing us to work hard and it's paying off," said McCarthy.
Dandan, meanwhile, once again attributed their improvement on their change of attitude.
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"It's not change in personnel. It's the change of attitude. And I will talk to the guys to guard themselves from slipping back to the team's old attitude," Dandan said.
Playing aggressively and with confidence, the Columbian squad dominated NLEX almost all throughout, leading by as many as 23 points before wrapping up the lopsided game.
They set the tone of the match early with a fluid motion game led by Celda who poured in all of his 14-point first-half output in the opening quarter.
"Ang gusto ni coach matulin ang pace kaya takbo kami ng takbo. Kasi maliliit kami, kapag nag-set kami ng plays, talo kami. So kailangan tumakbo," said Celda.
Columbian took the half at 62-50 with a 16-6 advantage on fastbreak and a 17-0 on points off errors.
NLEX obviously struggled without chemistry with late replacement import Adrian Forbes. Then there's the absence of injury-hit players Alex Mallari, Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Kevin Alas.(SB)
