Bay Area flat-out dominated the beleaguered Terrafirma in a blowout of historic proportions, 130-76, to put together another winning streak in the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, Friday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
Andrew Nicholson starred in the victory yet again, powering the breakaway ignited by Zhu Songwei, Glen Yang, and Kobey Lam as the Dragons extended the Dyip’s sorrows to 22 straight games for their second win in a row.
The guest team’s 54-point triumph is the biggest win margin in the league in the last 36 years, according to stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
“We certainly weren’t trying to win by this amount,” said head coach Brian Goorjian of the massive conquest that hiked their card to 6-1.
Nicholson led the way with 37 points, including 31 in the first half that saw him score 19 straight points during the first quarter alone that gave his side a 33-16 lead. The former NBA cager also had 10 rebounds in 29 minutes.
“I think our teammates do a great job of moving the ball, finding me in the right spots. Obviously, I wouldn’t be able to score without them. They put us in an advantageous situation,” the 32-year-old forward said.
Zheng Qilong had 17 points, while Song Jianhua supplied 15 points on top of five rebounds and five assists as the bench guys made their presence felt. The duo combined for the bulk of the squad’s 55 bench points.
“Tonight, what led to the big one is that those Chinese kids that have not had an opportunity to play or play much, today when they got a sniff, they just were so excited and played with so much energy,” Goorjian said.
“So there was no let-up . We went from thirty to fifty, and a lot of times when you put the bench in, it pegs it back,” the decorated mentor added.
Zhu had 12 points as all 13 players fielded by Goorjian scored at least two in the win that saw them shoot 58.2-percent from the floor.
“Although they’re bottom, they’ve been very dangerous,” said Goorjian of Terrafirma. “The guys get a little bit of a break now, and we wanted to finish this thing off right. We saw this as a [dangerous] game.”
Bay Area will head into a two-week break before returning to action against Meralco on November 4, 3 p.m., at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Juami Tiongson, meanwhile, led Terrafirma with 21 points in the loss that kept the team winless in six games in the conference. Lester Prosper was limited to just 18 points on 18 shots and seven rebounds.
The Dyip will face another tall task in a bid to break the curse as they face Ginebra next Friday, October 28, 5:45 p.m. at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
Bay Area 130 – Nicholson 37, Zheng 17, Song 15, Zhu 12, Blankley 9, Lam 9, Yang 8, Si 7, Liu 5, Liang 4, Zhang 3, Reid 2, Ju 2.
Terrafirma 76 – Tiongson 21, Prosper 18, Munzon 9, Cahilig 8, Camson 5, Gomez de Liano 4, Alolino 4, Mina 3, Calvo 2, Gabayni 2, Javelona 0, Ramos 0, Grospe 0, Balagasay 0.
Quarterscores: 35-18, 67-37, 101-62, 130-76.
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
