By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — James Yap showed he’s got his old firepower back, blasting a team-high 26 points to lead the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to a rousing 113-105 victory over the NLEX Road Warriors at the start of the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Friday night.
The two-time MVP shot 5-of-11 from three-point range, including his last basket with 40 seconds remaining that sealed the victory for ROS. Yap’s 26-point output was his biggest in three seasons.
Import Shawn Taggart added 23 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks in his debut for the Elasto Painters. Raymond Almazan added 18 markers, three rebounds, and two assists in his first game for ROS after being sidelined by a left calf injury during the Philippine Cup.
NLEX fought hard, coming back from a 12-point deficit, 47-59, in the third quarter to grab the lead, 103-102, with 2:13 left in the game. But back-to-back three-pointers from Gabe Norwood and Yap shoved ROS back in the lead en route to victory.
Import Wayne Chism, who was the ROS import last season, starred for NLEX, finishing with 27 points, 21 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Carlo Lastimosa added 15 markers.
Meralco 94, Mahindra 86
The Meralco Bolts showed that it is a vastly different and more powerful team with a big import at center as they warded off the Mahindra Floodbuster, 94-86.
The Bolts' impressive showing was a far cry from their last outing in the Philippine Cup where they finished second to last with just three wins in 11 games.
Baser Amer led Meralco with 19 points, three boards, three assists, three steals, and just one turnover in almost 30 minutes of play.
Chris Newsome added 17 markers, seven rebounds, seven assists, and one steal in 32 minutes.
It was Cliff Hodge, however, who ensured the Meralco victory after he nailed two huge triples in the endgame. He finished with nine points, eight of them at crunch time.
Hulking reinforcement Alex Stepheson filled a huge void in the middle for the Bolts. He finished with 11 points, 21 boards, and three blocks.
The loss spoiled the return to Mahindra of its deadly import James White who lit up the scoreboard with 33 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter when he led a ferocious Floodbuster rally which just fell short. He also collected 16 boards and four blocks in 40 minutes.
Alex Mallari came off the bench to add 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, seven assists, five boards, and four steals.
Meralco led for most parts of the game. The Bolts were up 78-67 midway in the fourth quarter when White scored successive baskets as the Floodbuster cut the deficit to 86-82, with 1:52 remaining.
But Newsome and Hodge hit huge baskets to push Meralco’s lead back to nine, 91-82, in the final minute for the win.
Games Saturday: Blackwater Elite vs. Phoenix Fuel Masters and GlobalPort Batang Pier vs. Alaska Aces.
