Cameron Clark restored order down the stretch as Hong Kong Eastern repelled Converge, 117-106, to seize the provisional lead in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup, Friday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The veteran import finished with 39 points, 15 rebounds, and two blocks as he came through with the crucial hits entering the last four minutes to help his side stay ahead and eventually secure their second win in as many outings.
Coming back into the game after a knee-to-knee collision with Justin Arana, Clark nailed back-to-back jumpers to spread their lead to 105-98 with 3:38 remaining after the FiberXers came back and knocked to within just three.
He’d also be responsible for restoring the lead to double digits, 111-100, with 2:12 to go, before Kobey Lam and Glen Yang applied the finishing touches.
“Just trying to lead by example,” said Clark. “Like I said, I’ve been here a couple of times. My guys are new to this but they’re gonna play hard. And I feel like as long as I lead by example, everybody’s gonna follow.”
“I feel like we are a great group and we just gotta keep fighting, keep building our chemistry,” added the former NLEX and San Miguel reinforcement.
Hayden Blankley continued his fine play and registered his own double-double with 21 points on a 3-of-5 clip from three and 10 rebounds.
Yang had 19 points, while Steven Guinchard made 14 points, spiked by a pair of four-pointers. Lam added 11 points in the win that saw Eastern shoot nearly 52-percent from the floor, including a 13-of-25 mark from the first arc.
“For us it’s a big win, to be honest, especially as I mentioned last time, this team has only been together for a month, and we didn’t play enough games to make real chemistry together,” head coach Mensur Bajramovic said.
HK Eastern will look to make three wins in a row when it faces Rain or Shine on December 4, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. also at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Put to naught by the defeat, meanwhile, were the 43 points and nine rebounds of Cheick Diallo to lead Converge, which failed to follow up its dominant 116-87 victory over Terrafirma in the conference opener last Wednesday.
Alec Stockton had 18 points, six rebounds, and eight assists. Jordan Heading shot 6-of-10 from the field and finished with 13 points, while Deschon Winston and Arana scored 12 and 10 markers, respectively, in the loss.
An opportunity to bounce back lies ahead for the FiberXers when they take on Magnolia (1-0) on Sunday, December 1, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Scores:
Eastern 117 – Clark 39, Blankley 21, Yang 19, Guinchard 14, Lam 11, Cheung 4, Cao 3, Chan 2, Pok 2, Xu 2.
Converge 106 – Diallo 43, Stockton 18, Heading 13, Winston 12, Arana 10, Racal 5, Nieto 5, Delos Santos 0, Santos 0, Javillonar 0.
Quarterscores: 21-20, 58-55, 91-83, 117-106.
