MANILA — The Meralco Bolts defeated the TNT KaTropa Texters, 94-89, to grab the solo lead in the 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup on Friday night, spoiling the PBA debut of highly touted 10-year NBA veteran Lou Amundson, who is now playing for TNT in his first game outside the US. Amundson was good enough for 19 points and 18 boards despite being plagued by foul trouble, but his output was not enough to prevent TNT from absorbing its first loss in three games.
Import Alex Stepheson paced the Bolts with 20 markers and 27 rebounds to propel his team to a league-best 3-0 win-loss mark. Baser Amer and Jared Dillinger posted 17 points apiece. Dillinger's three-pointer gave the Bolts an eight-point lead, 90-82, with 1:16 left, giving his team enough cushion to foil the Texters' last-ditch rally.
Chris Newsome and Reynel Hugnatan added 10 points each for Meralco.
The two sister teams engaged in a closely fought contest in the first half. But Amer sparked a 12-2 Meralco run in the third canto, giving the Bolts their first double-digit lead, 73-63.
The Texters cut the lead to three, 85-82, with 3:29 left in the fourth quarter, but Amer and Dillinger nailed crucial baskets to repulse TNT's comeback bid.
Rookie Roger Pogoy was the top localscorer for TNT with 15 points, Ryan Reyes added 11 points for the Texters, who played without Jayson Castro, their top local scorer, who's still nursing a hamstring injury.
Mahindra 89, NLEX 81
The Mahindra Floodbuster nailed their first win after two games, defeating the luckless NLEX Road Warriors, 89-81.
The Floodbuster led from start to finish, repulsing a belated rally by the Road Warriors who suffered their third straight loss. It was actually NLEX's seven straight loss dating back to the Philippine Cup, the franchise's longest losing streak.
Mahindra also defeated NLEX in the 2017 Philippine Cup.
Returning import James White led Mahindra with 30 points, 13 of them scored in the first quarter where the Floodbuster built a six-point lead, which they padded to as many as 15 points in the third quarter. The 6'8" American import also collared 23 rebounds.
The rest of the scoring load was evenly spread among the locals, with four players—Ryan Arana, Reden Celda, Gary David, and LA Revilla—scoring nine points apiece.
The Road Warriors managed to trim the deficit to four points, 84-79, but that proved to be the closest they could come.
Import Wayne Chism led the Road Warriors with 28 points, 21 boards, four blocks, and two assists in 38 minutes.
Game Saturday: GlobalPort Batang Pier (0-1) vs. Star Hotshots (1-0).
