Dyip halts streaking ROS five

MANILA, Philippines — Columbian Dyip played with cohesion in its second game with replacement import Bailey John Fields, topping the previously unbeaten Rain or Shine squad, 104-96, to again breach the .500 mark in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the MOA Arena in Pasay City last night.

More practices with their new reinforcement improved Columbian’s chemistry, allowing the team to bounce back from its shattering 103-134 loss to the Alaska Milk Aces despite Fields’ huge 39-point effort.

“That’s the way to bounce back from a bad loss against Alaska. We talked about that at length when preparing for ROS. I told them they didn’t show up against Alaska although in fairness to Alaska they really played well. They took us to school and we learned,” said Columbian coach Ricky Dandan.

The Dyip squad made a big turnaround and scored another win over Rain or Shine – the lone squad Dandan and his team beat in the recent Philippine Cup.

Rashawn McCarthy rebounded strong from a mere seven-point showing the last time out and Jerramy King, Philip Cahilig, Carlo Lastimosa, Roider Cabrera and Reden Celda also put in sterling efforts as Columbian Dyip nailed a third win against two losses.

Fields definitely made the biggest difference in Columbian’s second win over ROS in the season.

“He’s fresh from the Greek league and he’s used to playing big imports. That’s the reason why we took him in,” said Dandan of their replacement to CJ Aiken.

Backcourt tandem Baser Amer and Chris Newsome combined for 51 big points while Arinze Onuaku produced a near triple-double game with 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists as Meralco thwarted Philippine Cup four-peat champ San Miguel Beer, 93-85, later in the night.

Troy Gillenwater sparkled with 17 points in the first half but struggled for just two in the second half while Christian Standhardinger played off the bench in his PBA debut and came through with just four points and five rebounds in 20 minutes of action for SMB.

The scores:

First Game

Columbian 104 — Fields 34, McCarthy 23, King 13, Cahilig 8, Celda 7, Lastimosa 7, Tubid 4, Cabrera 3, Corpuz 2, Sara 2, Camson 1, Escoto 0.

ROS 96 — Johnson 30, Daquioag 17, Almazan 16, Tiu 9, Belga 7, Norwood 6, Yap 4, Ahanmisi 3, Torres 3, Nambatac 1, Washington 0.

Quarterscores: 31-28, 58-53, 82-80, 104-96

Second Game

Meralco 93 – Amer 28, Newsome 23, Dillinger 14, Onuaku 13, Hodge 5, Caram 5, Tolomia 2, Baracael 2, Canaleta 1, Bono 0, Hugnatan 0.

San Miguel 85 – Gillenwater 19, Cabagnot 16, Fajardo 16, Lassiter 15, Santos 10, Standhardinger 4, Heruela 3, Ross 2, Pessumal 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.

Quarterscores: 23-24, 46-41, 65-68, 93-85