Meralco blasts listless Blackwater

Games today (MOA Arena, Pasay)

3 p.m. – NLEX vs KIA

5:15 p.m. – Phoenix vs Alaska

MANILA, Philippines - Meralco unloaded too much firepower and torched a hapless Blackwater side, 107-78, last night to earn an early share of the lead in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Garvo Lanete marked his Meralco debut in style, drilling in all but one of his five triples in the first half where the Bolts went unassailably ahead at 63-34.

“Having him (Lanete) here as an addition to our team helped us in spacing and outside shooting,” said Meralco coach Norman Black, referring to the former San Beda star.

Meralco acquired the 28-year-old Lanete in a four-team trade during the off-season that also saw Larry Fonacier of TNT KaTropa and Rain or Shine’s JR Quiñahan land at NLEX and Anthony Semerad to TNT and Bradwyn Guinto, Jonathan Grey and Sean Anthony to GobalPort.

“Our offense started to click when he hit those long-range bombs in the second quarter,” Black said.

He also praised Baser Amer’s superb all around effort after the other former San Beda ace finished with 20 points, six rebounds and eight assists while orchestrating the team’s play with clockwork precision.

“Baser (Amer) was very good in the first half distributing the ball and getting us fastbreaks,” said Black.

“I’m also happy with the way we pass the ball and how we end up with a lot of assists in the first half and I hope we can continue that in our next games,” he added.

Allen Durham struggled offensively and scored just 11 points on a seven-of-20 clip but made up for the scoring slack by crashing the boards with 21 rebounds.

With Lanete on the firing end, Meralco, which finished with 11 treys, raced to a 32-15 lead after 12 minutes and sustained its firepower in the next period to build a 29-point bulge at the turn.

The Elite, who missed the services of Mac Belo, who was with the Gilas team in Jones Cup, never recovered in the second half, falling by as many as 36, 52-88, heading to the fourth.

While Meralco drew double-digit outputs from six players, Blackwater only had two scoring in twin figures with import Trevis Simpson hitting 25 points and Bambam Gamalinda adding 10 markers.

In the nightcap, Raymond Almazan hit two pressure-packed free throws with 5.2 seconds to go as Rain or Shine survived GlobalPort, 98-96.

Meanwhile, NLEX and Phoenix seek their second straight victories as they clash with KIA and Alaska, respectively, at the resumption of action at the MOA Arena in Pasay today.

The Road Warriors trounced the Aces on a strong finishing kick, 112-104, while the Fuel Masters overwhelmed the Picanto, 118-105, in last Wednesday’s inaugurals of the league’s season-ending conference. 

Focus will be on NLEX reinforcement Aaron Fuller, who exploded with game-highs of 30 points and 20 rebounds but is expected to have his hands full against KIA counterpart Markeith Cummings, who debuted with 31 points in their losing effort.

The Fuel Masters, on the other hand, face an uphill battle against the Aces, who are hard-pressed to bounce back from their eight-point defeat to the Road Warriors.

The scores:

First Game

Meralco 107 – Amer 20, Durham 18, Lanete 15, Dillinger 14, Newsome 13, Hodge 11, Hugnatan 4, Nabong 4, Caram 2, Yeo 2, Sedurifa 2, Faundo 2, Chua 0, Atkins 0.

Blackwater 78 – Simpson 25, Gamalinda 10, Sena 7, Cruz 7, Digregorio 6, Sumang 5, Erram 4, Canaleta 3, Pascual 3, Aguilar 2, Miranda 2, Banal 2, Cervantes 2, Buenafe 0, Pinto 0.

Quarterscores: 32-15, 63-34, 88-52, 107-78

Second Game

RAIN OR SHINE 98 – Weatherspoon 25, Ahanmisi 17, Almazan 15, Tiu 10, Chan 9, Washington 8, Cruz 4, Norwood 4, Ponferada 3, Yap 2, Belga 1.

GLOBALPORT 96 – Romeo 28, Pringle 21, Anthony 12, Guinto 12, Araña 3, Mamaril 3, Trawick 3, Mamaril 2, Ababou 2, Van Opstal 0, Grey 0, Maierhofer 0.

Quarterscores: 24-17, 50-39, 71-70, 98-96