Hong Kong Eastern clinched a spot in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals after rolling past the also-ran Terrafirma, 134-110, on Friday evening at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The guest team overcame the exit of Chris McLaughlin to an apparent ankle injury about five minutes into the match, pulling away in the final frame behind the locals on the way to chalking up their seventh win in 10 outings.
Helpful was this triumph of Coach Mensur Bajramovic and Co. for the other 7-3 teams in NorthPort and Converge as they have also secured a ticket to the playoffs’ first round. All three are sharing the No. 2 spot in the standings.
“We are still looking for the first two spots. Many teams have three losses so we need to win all three games and to see how the other games will be and try to get one of the two spots for the playoffs,” Bajramovic said.
A total of six players finished in double figures in the win, with Ramon Cao leading the way with 23 points and seven rebounds as he starred in their fourth-quarter surge to take control of the game for good after a tight duel prior.
Kobey Lam tallied a double-double of 20 points and 10 assists in easily his best performance of this conference thus far, with the guard surely hoping that it would be a sign of things to come for him after struggling earlier in the tilt.
Steven Guinchard fired 20 points on a 6-of-7 clip from three, scoring 17 in the second quarter alone to lead their 33-point barrage for a 57-53 lead at the half.
Hayden Blankley finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, together with two steals and two blocks without a turnover.
Zhu Hao made 13 points while Pok Yuet Yeung added 11 points as the two big men helped in manning the middle with McLaughlin sidelined.
“Chris’s injury [caused] problems for us but Hao and Simba played well and somehow, we survived,” lauded Bajramovic of the tandem.
HK will turn their focus first in the A1 Division semifinals at home before shifting their attention back to the PBA, where they will look to sweep Magnolia (January 26) and NLEX (January 29) to boost their bid for a Top Two finish.
Brandon Edwards, meanwhile, had 26 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Dyip, who fell to 0-11 and are in danger of finishing the conference winless as they will wrap up their campaign with a meeting versus TNT on January 22.
The Scores:
Hong Kong Eastern 134 – Cao 23, Blankley 23, Lam 20, Guinchard 20, Zhu 13, Pok 11, Leung 9, Yang 7, Chan 6, Xu 4, Cheung 3, McLaughlin 2.
Terrafirma 110 – Edwards 26, Melecio 17, Pringle 16, Sangalang 13, Ferrer 12, Carino 9, Romeo 8, Paraiso 3, Hernandez 3, Manuel 2, Catapusan 1, Nonoy 0.
Quarterscores: 24-24, 57-53, 88-79, 134-110.
