PBA: New Hong Kong import stars in debut win over Blackwater

Hong Kong import Chris McLaughlin scores inside against Blackwater.–PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines–Hong Kong unveiled a new import on Tuesday and found success, turning back Blackwater, 84-75, in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Canadian Chris McLaughlin fired 32 points and 23 rebounds, leading the charge for Eastern, who had to deal with the absence of the injured Cameron Clark.

Glen Yang was solid once again for the visitors, chipping in 14 points and seven rebounds while Kobey Lam added 10 and 11 to help the guest club rise to a 4-1 win-loss mark in the showcase and prime themselves well against a fancied showdown with Barangay Ginebra.

READ: PBA: Hong Kong Eastern frustrates debuting TNT

Blackwater drew 41 points and 12 rebounds from import George King, but he was the lone player to finish in double digits.

Sedrick Barefield and Rey Suerte added a measly nine points each in the losing stand that stretched the Bossing’s slide to three games.

Blackwater plays undefeated Meralco this Thursday.

The Scores:

EASTERN 84 – McLaughlin 32, Yang 14, Lam 10, Guinchard 8, Xu 7, Cheung 5, Cao 4, Blankley 2, Pok 2, Chan 0, Zhu 0

BLACKWATER 75 – King 41, Barefield 9, Suerte 9, Chua 4, Kwekuteye 4, David 4, Ilagan 3, Ponferrada 1, Casio 0, Hill 0, Guinto 0, Escoto 0

Quarterscores: 23-21, 39-49, 66-58, 84-75