PBA: Bay Area books quarters with rout of NLEX
Bay Area import Myles Powell. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—The Bay Area Dragons coasted to another victory on Sunday but this time secured themselves a spot in the quarterfinals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup by way of pummeling the slumping NLEX Road Warriors, 118-98, at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Myles Powell came up big once more as he scored 36 points while adding eight rebounds, six assists and two steals to give the Dragons their eighth win in 10 games.
Bay Area also became the first team to officially book a spot in the last eight going into two tough games against leader Magnolia and perennial contender TNT.
“I felt comfortable that we’re going into this playoffs with our tremendous start,” said Dragons coach Brian Goorjian. “Now the focus is these last two games will be huge because we have an opportunity to get the top two positions.”
Glen Yang had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists while Hayden Blankley added 13 points, 14 rebounds and six assists as Bay Area produced its sixth double-digit win of the midseason tournament.
Powell has won all six appearances for the Dragons, with the latest being his second game since Andrew Nicholson completed his four-game stint under the arrangements set for the guest team’s participation.
NLEX absorbed its fourth straight loss and dropped to 11th spot in the 13-team competition with a 3-6 mark.
Import Earl Clark was limited to 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in the Road Warriors’ latest setback.
The Scores:
BAY AREA 118 — Powell 36, Yang 15, Blankley 13, Lam 12, Ju 11, Liu 11, Zhu 9, Song 6, Reid 4, Zheng 1, Ewing 0, Si 0, Liang 0.
NLEX 98 — Clark 17, Trollano 15, Chua 15, Ganuelas-Rosser 12, Rosales 12, Alas 10, Paniamogan 6, Celda 5, Varilla 4, Miranda 2, Fonacier 0, Ighalo 0.
Quarters: 26-21, 64-45, 91-71, 118-98.
