Lassiter, Lutz lead Petron Blaze win over GlobalPort
MANILA, Philippines—Petron Blaze drew significant contributions from five players as the Boosters cruised to a 97-87 win over an erratic GlobalPort side in the 2014 PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz scored 18 points each while Arwind Santos and Junemar Fajardo adding 16 and 15 points, respectively for the Boosters, who were sharp from the onset despite missing the services of starting point guard Alex Cabagnot.
“We just continued to push it. At halftime coach told us to keep the pressure on,” said Lutz, who also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists.
“We’re happy but at the same time a little worried about this win. Happy because despite some personnel problems we managed to get his win but unfortunately, Yousef Taha had an injury and we still don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Petron coach Gee Abanilla.
Taha scored six points on two-of-two shooting in six minutes before hurting his knee.
The Batang Pier appeared to be looking for their identity under new coach Richie Ticzon but still managed to work their way back in the early part of the third quarter before Lassiter extended the Boosters lead back to 12, 75-63, on a three-pointer late in the period.
Lassiter unloaded another triple—his fourth and final—at the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter to put Petron up by 13, 87-74, before back-to-back short jumpers by Santos put the game out of reach, 94-76.
Sol Mercado led GlobalPort with 20 points on top of five rebounds and six assists while Jay Washington added 15 points and 15 rebounds. Rookie Terrence Romeo had 13 points.
Fajardo, the six-foot-10 center, also had 16 rebounds, four assists and one block.
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