PETRON BLAZE STEALS GAME 1 FROM BARAKO BULL
Marcio Lassiter landed just a few hours before game time on Tuesday.
But the deadly swingman did not show any effects of fatigue nor jet lag, leading Petron Blaze to a come-from-behind 101-88 win over Barako Bull at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Lassiter caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 of his total output, as the Boosters took the opener of their best-of-three quarterfinal at the start of the PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup playoffs at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Missing their last game to attend to a death in the family back in the US, Lassiter had back-to-back triples that triggered a big Petron run as the team scored 17 unanswered points to turn a 71-78 deficit to an 88-78 spread exactly five minutes left in the game.
An Alex Cabagnot trey with 2:11 remaining in the contest put Barako Bull away, 99-82, the biggest lead of the game.
Six players finished in double figures for the Blaze Boosters with Cabagnot and reigning Most Valuable Player Arwind Santos each matching Lassiter’s 17.
June Mar Fajardo finished with a conference-leading 11th double-double performance, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Chris Lutz added 14 markers and Chris Ross chipped in 10 in a display of balanced firepower by Petron, which came back from 12 points down in the first half.
“In the first half, I think we were kinda tentative in our shots and we didn’t know when to shoot the ball and when not to shoot the ball. But in the second half, I thought that we really shot the ball really well,” said Petron Blaze head coach Gee Abanilla.
“It was a big turnaround, especially Alex and Marcio, who had a very good second half,” Abanilla added.
No. 3 seed Petron Blaze will try to sweep the series and return to the Final 4 with another win in Game 2 slated Friday in the same venue. (RJ)
The scores:
PETRON BLAZE 101 – Lassiter 17, Cabagnot 17, Santos 17, Fajardo 15, Lutz 14, Ross 10, Tubid 6, Lanete 4, Taha 1, Duncil 0, Kramer 0.
BARAKO BULL 88 – Miller 17, Buenafe 17, Intal 15, Pena 9, Miranda 9, Wilson 8, Jensen 5, Maierhofer 3, Pennisi 3, Macapagal 2, Lastimosa 0, Marcelo 0.
Quarterscores: 20-22, 42-49, 67-73, 101-88
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