LESLIE SHOWS TRUE FORM AS GLOBALPORT BEATS KIA

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GLOBALPORT’s concerns about  CJ Leslie’s game proved to be unfounded as he keyed a 100-89 victory over Kia Wednesday, opening up the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Leslie finished with 33 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots while Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle combined for 36 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as the Batang Pier overcame a monster game from Kia’s PJ Ramos.

Ramos notched 41 points and 20 rebounds and was chiefly responsible for Kia’s comeback from the depths of a 24-point second quarter deficit to within 85-92, still five minutes left.

That proved to be the best the Carnival could do as Jewel Ponferada’s dunk touched off an 8-0 run by the Batang Pier that put them inexorably ahead 100-85, 1:47 left.

It was Leslie giving his team the fast start with 11 first quarter points and then scattering 10 more in the third to ensure a 79-67 spread that pleased interim head coach Eric Gonzales most.

“Iyan iyung napanood ko sa clips niya, hindi katulad doon sa last two (tuneup) games na parang malamya,” said Gonzales of Leslie, who arrived only Jan. 17.

“Siguro adjust lang sa pagkain, sa weather,” added Gonzales.  “Matalino siya, kita na niya kung ano gusto natin from him. Nakaka-adjust siya.”

True enough, Leslie, at 6-8 almost seven inches smaller than Ramos, added four assists in almost 39 minutes of action in negating the latter’s performance, the first 40-20 game in the league since Talk ‘N Text’s Richard Howell notched 41 and 22 against Barangay Ginebra in the same tournament’s quarterfinals last year.

“Pinakamahabang minutes na niya iyan, Dati, after four, five minutes sesenyas na siya para i-sub,” related Gonzales, adding the contributions of Romeo and Pringle also helped a lot.

“Di kami malaking team kaya we need to work hard sa backcourt. Kita n’yo naman, pagdating sa front court kinain kami ng buong-buo,” said Gonzales.

The change that put Chito Victolero as first assistant, in lieu of Glenn Capacio, to playing-coach Manny Pacquiao did not seem to affect Kia that much, notwithstanding the loss that was the team’s 11th straight since the Philippine Cup.

Yet only new acquisition Mark Yee was able to back Ramos up with 15 points as usual top gun Reil Cervantes was limited to just eight points.

Denok Miranda, recently acquired from Barako Bull for Sol Mercado, also did not make much of an impact in his first game as a Batang Pier with just eight points.

Still, Romeo worked solidly behind Leslie before the likes of Anthony Semerad, Kelly Nabong, Pringle and Ronjay Buenafe did their share as the Batang Pier overcame an early 0-5 deficit to post as much as a 49-24 bulge. (NC)

The scores:

GLOBALPORT 100 – Leslie 33, Romeo 19, Pringle 17, Miranda 8, Semerad 6, Ponferada 5, Isip 4, Nabong 4, Pinto 2, Baclao 2, Buenafe 0, P. Taha 0, Caperal 0, Jensen 0, De Ocampo 0.

KIA 89 – Ramos 41, Yee 15, Cervantes 8, Ighalo 8, Revilla 7, Buensuceso 6, Sanga 2, Alvarez 2, Thiele 0, Poligrates 0, Padilla 0, Pascual 0, Dehesa 0, Burtscher 0, Custodio 0.

Quarterscores: 32-22, 56-42, 79-67, 100-89

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