PETRON IS RUNAWAY WINNER OF ELIMS PENNANT
Staying hot in this wet, cold Sunday night, Petron Blaze capped its dominant stint in the PBA Governors Cup elimination round with a 101-90 drubbing of Globaport at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Boosters hurdled the Batang Pier with relative ease and thus ended up with a runaway 8-1 win-loss card in the short elims phase of the season-ending conference.
As the elims topnotcher, Petron Blaze plays the No. 8 team in the quarterfinals with two cracks (twice-to-beat bonus) at making the semifinals.
The Boosters set out for the playoffs riding the momentum of an amazing eight-game run that they unleashed after dropping their first game in the conference versus the Meralco Bolts.
“We took that loss to Meralco positively. In some ways, nakaganda sa amin yung talong ‘yon. We worked hard and we focused on our goal,” said Petron coach Gie Abanilla.
“We’re still a work in progress. We still have to a lot of things to learn, and it helps that we have a hardworking coaching staff,” Abanilla also said.
Abanilla also admitted they have a big plus with their highly formidable lineup.
“No doubt, we’ve got a strong team. Talent wins games, but camaraderie, chemistry gives you some more wins. We’re still working on that,” said the amiable young coach.
Adding to the list of Petron’s victims, Globalport fell to eighth place at 3-5.
In their final game in the elims, the Batang Pier play the seventh-running Barangay Ginebra Kings in a crucial match Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jay Washington played with great determination versus his former team, but the night didn’t belong to him.
As in most of their previous matches, the Boosters came out to play a balanced game, making them a tough nut to crack versus the Batang Pier.
Elijah Millsap and Marcio Lassiter delivered 18 points each while Arwind Santos added 15, Junmar Fajardo chipped in 13 and Alex Cabagnot contributed 12 for the Boosters who pulled away in the third quarter at 78-61.
It was all-Petron show the rest of the way in the game that developed some color after a collision between Gary David and Cabagnot.
David was whistled a technical foul for second motion.
Lassiter was the best performer among the locals, spiking his 18-point performance with 4-of-5 three-point shooting. (SB)
The scores:
Petron 101 – Millsap 18, Lassiter 18, Santos 15, Fajardo 13, Cabagnot 12, Kramer 8, Lutz 7, Lanete 5, Deutchman 3, Tubid 2.
GlobalPort 90 – Cummings 26, Mercado 14, Washington 11, David 11, Taha 6, Nabong 5, Salvador 5, Lingganay 4, Mandani 3, Miller 3, Thiele 2, Belencion 0.
Quarters: 26-23, 54-50, 78-61, 101-90
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