New guy Lofton drops 54 points as Bolts zap Batang Pier

MANILA, Philippines -- New Meralco import Zach Lofton erupted for 54 points in his PBA debut, helping the Bolts continue their winning ways with a 125-99 drubbing of the NorthPort Batang Pier Sunday in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Philsports Arena.

Lofton, who replaced Suleiman Braimoh a few days ago, waxed hot in his debut.

With Meralco leading by just a point heading into the second half, 49-48, the Bolts started the third quarter white-hot, uncorking a 20-3 run to take a 69-51 lead.

The run was halted by a layup by John Amores and a technical free throw by Arvin Tolentino at the 6:28 mark of the third canto, 69-55.

The Bolts, led by Lofton, ended the quarter with a 23-9 run once again as they built a 92-64 cushion heading into the final quarter.

The lead grew to as much as 38 points, 112-74, following a split from the line by Allein Maliksi with seven minutes left in the game.

NorthPort was only able to cut the lead to 20 at the nearest, 99-119, with less than two minutes remaining.

The Batang Pier's defeat snapped their three-game winning streak.

Lofton also had seven rebounds and four assists for the Bolts.

Seconding him in scoring is Maliksi, who had 18 markers.

Rookie Fran Yu led NorthPort with 31 markers.

Meralco rose to 5-1 for the season, while NorthPort is now 5-3.