Ben Madilynn
ALLEN Durham is good on his vow that he’ll get fitter and better as the tournament goes on.
In the fourth game of his latest tour of duty with Meralco, Durham delivered a near triple-double game spiked by 19 points in their big third-period salvo en route to a 107-91 dispatching of NorthPort on Sunday, Sept. 1. 2024, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
The three-time Best Import awardee finished with 34 points with 15 rebounds and nine assists, leading the Bolts in a jump to joint Group A lead with the TNT Tropang Texters at 3-1.
The Bolts chalked up a second straight win while slowing down NorthPort hotshot Arvin Tolentino and handing the Batang Pier a second loss against the same number of wins.
Chris Banchero added 23, Bong Quinto chipped in 18, including a team-leading 14 in the first half, while Anjo Caram contributed 10, all in the third.
On the defensive end, the Bolts helped one another as they held Tolentino to 21 points, a significant drop from his career-high 51 in NorthPort’s previous outing.
The Bolts also did a good job on NorthPort import Venky Jois whom they limited to paltry six points, five rebounds, and three assists with two turnovers.
A telling blow for the Batang Pier was a 38-17 run unleashed by the Bolts in the third presided over by Durham and Caram with 19 and 10 points, respectively.
The Bolts were holding a slim 52-49 lead at the half before coming through with the killer attack to pull away, 90-66, going to the payoff period.
Coach Luigi Trillo’s charges hit at a 14-of-24 clip in their third-quarter breakaway as against the Batang Pier’s 5-of-19 shooting.
Behind Tolentino, William Navarro, and Joshua Munzon, NorthPort actually started stronger, even taking the first period at 28-22.
But the Bolts started to hit their stride in the second then went roaring in the third.
In the first game, Magnolia got off to a blistering start and still had plenty enough to complete a wire-to-wire 124-103 win over Terrafirma.
Jerick Ahanmisi scored a career-best 24 points and hooked up with Glenn Robinson and Ian Sangalang the most to help the Hotshots build an insurmountable 60-22 lead that proved too much for the Dyip to overcome.
In the end, Magnolia bounced back from a sorry 82-88 loss to TNT last Thursday and improved to 2-2 in Group A while relegating Terrafirma to 0-4.
How they fared:
MAGNOLIA 124 – Ahanmisi 24, Robinson III 20, Lucero 15, Sangalang 14, Lee 13, Eriobu 12, Balanza 7, Barroca 6, Laput 6, Dionisio 4, Abueva 3, Mendoza 0, Reavis 0, Dela Rosa 0, Alfaro 0.
TERRAFIRMA 103 – Pringle 23, Standhardinger 22, Hernandez 18, Sangalang 9, Ramos 9, Ferrer 7, Hanapi 7, Cahilig 6, Hester 2, Tiongson 0, Olivario 0, Carino 0.
Quarterscores: 34-13, 63-32, 86-64, 124-103.
MERALCO 109 – Durham 34, Banchero 24, 23, Quinto 18, Caram 10, Newsome 8, Pasucal 6, Cansino 6, Rios 2, Mendoza 2, Bates 0, Hodge 0, Pasaol 0.
NORTHPORT 99 – Tolentino 21, Navarro 18, Munzon 16, Flores 8, Bulanadi 7, Jois 6, Amores 6, Cuntapay 6, Jalalon 5, Nelle 3, Yu 3, Tratter 0, Onwubere 0.
Quarterscores: 22-28, 52-49, 90-66, 109-99. / PBA.PH
