MERALCO import Joshua Davis fouls hulking KIA reinforcement Peter John Ramos in yesterday’s game. EDWIN BACASMAS
MERALCO made up for a slow start by finishing strong last night, scoring a 90-80 victory over KIA Motors to grab the early lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
Gary David and Jai Reyes hit a chunk of their points in the final two frames and keyed the Bolts’ rise from as many as 11 points down in the first quarter for their second straight victory following an upset 85-74 decision of Barangay Ginebra on opening day Tuesday.
The loss was the second straight for the Carnival, who got another monster effort from hulking import Peter John Ramos but very little support from their local crew.
Ramos, the 7-foot-3 Puerto Rican who became the first international player to jump to the NBA straight out of high school 10 years ago, scattered 34 points that went with 21 rebounds.
But only JR Buensuceso was able to toss in twin digits, 11, in support of Ramos, who scored half of the Carnival’s 38 points in the first half alone. KIA missed the services of Reil Cervantes.
After scoring just 12 points in the first quarter and trailing the Carnival in the first half, the Bolts came out of the halftime break with a 26-10 bomb, taking a 62-48 lead with under three minutes left in the third after a free throw by Josh Davis.
“We did a good job at halftime to instill more energy in our defense,” Meralco coach Norman Black said.
Meralco would allow the Carnival to come within 68-69 with 6:16 left after a Ramos basket, before David scored five unanswered points for a 74-68 lead going into the final five minutes.
Reyes finished with a career-high 16 points, making the most out of the opportunity to play with Mike Cortez sitting this one out because of a leg injury.
David finished with 25 points, 16 of them in the final two quarters, while Reyes fired six of his total in the third and had four of his points in the fourth.
The scores
First Game
MERALCO 90—David 25, Davis 19, Reyes 16, Anthony 6, Ildefonso 6, Hugnatan 6, Hodge 4, Wilson 4, Ferriols 4, Atkins 0, Cortez 0, Buenafe 0, Sena 0.
KIA 80—Ramos 34, Buensuceso 11, Poligrates 6, Webb 6, Cawaling 5, Yee 5, Pascual 4, Ighalo 4, Revilla 3, Burtscher 2, Thiele 0, Padilla 0.
Quarters: 12-18, 36-38, 62-56, 90-80