DUBAI – Meralco fizzled out and ultimately bowed to Shabab Al Ahli, 101-87, in a rough start to its Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia) 2025 campaign Saturday at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall here.
The Bolts had already erected a 54-43 wall during the second quarter, only for the home team to chip away at the deficit patiently before seizing control of the match again — and for good — during the following period.
Coach Nenad Vucinic’s charges could no longer regain their spark, with Deshawndre Washington and Jeremiah Love knocking down crucial hits in the final frame to lead the FIBA WASL-Gulf League titlists in completing the rally.
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“They gave us a lot of problems,” lamented the Serbian bench tactician, the team’s active consultant. “They shot the ball extremely well from the three-point line, did well in transition as well which partially was our fault.”
Jordon Varnado and Glynn Watson finished with 19 points apiece to lead Meralco, with the latter adding eight rebounds to his name.
Main man Chris Newsome supplied 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while John Egbunu notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds as the troika of imports carried much of the load for the PBA representatives.
But familiarity or lack thereof was indeed an issue, as they were only brought into the team days before the showpiece in this Emirati city.
“It was difficult for us to get some cohesion because we were just joined by three players — at the moment we’re playing in the Philippines without any foreign player,” said the former Gilas Pilipinas interim head coach.
“We got three good players but it’s very hard to get cohesion,” he added. “We’re hoping as the tournament goes that we’re gonna get better.”
The Bolts will need to better their chemistry the soonest — in 24 hours, actually — if they are to stay in the quarterfinal hunt as they face the 2024-25 B.League champions Utsunomiya Brex on Sunday, June 8.
“It’s gonna be a tough task for us, but we’re confident we can play much better than we did today and hopefully, have a chance to win,” Vucinic said.
Washington, on the other hand, finished with 40 points, seven rebounds, and six assists to lead Shabab Al Ahli, who were the BCL Asia runners-up last year.
Love came through with 22 points. Lead big man Qais Alshabebi made 15 points while young star Hamed Lateef added 13 markers in the win.
“I’m so proud of how we reacted in the second half,” said head coach Miodrag Perisic. “D-Wash led us. He was super involved playing defense and offense. I used 11 players, and everybody played their roles. I’m very happy.”
(C) FIBA.basketball
Washington himself already had 26 in the first half, which saw him lead a 10-2 run to chop the 11-point gap to three, 56-53, entering the break.
Shabab Al Ahli then got going in the third canto, with the lanky winger tying things up at 68-all before Qais Alshabebi helped out to make it a 77-72 lead.
The Bolts struggled to keep pace and things worsened for them when Love nailed a jumper and pushed the spread to 88-78 with 5:51 remaining.
Their lead grew as high as 96-81 with less than four minutes left after Love, Omar Alameri, and Love made an 8-0 run, all but securing the win for the UAE Basketball League powerhouse, who’s in the lead in Group B (1-0).
Shabab Al Ahli will face the Brex on Monday, June 9, with the goal to reign triumphant so as to sweep its way to the quarterfinals on June 12.
