PASAY CITY, PHILIPPINES – PH team Meralco Bolts blew out the visiting Macau Black Bears, 97-85, in the second game of the East Asia Super League’s (EASL) tip-off event at the Mall of Asia Arena here on Wednesday night.
The San Miguel Beermen lost earlier in the day to Suwon KT Sonicboom, 87-81.
The home squad relied on a balanced attack that saw 4 players score double digits, led by main man Chris Newsome’s 18 points as they took the win and defended their home turf.
American imports David Kennedy and Allen Durham both posted 17 points with the latter grabbing 11 rebounds while the former had an all-around game with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Chris Banchero scored 14 points as the Bolts’ third import Ange Kouame contributed a solid 9-point, 9-rebound game.
William Artino and Jeantal Cylla paced the Black Bears with 23 points each but Macau was dominated on the boards by Meralco, 52-39. Cylla shot just 5 of 22 for the entire game in an abysmal shooting from the field.
Bolts coach Luigi Trillo lauded his players for their efforts but insisted there’s much work to be done.
“We definitely think that we can win this thing. But starting off, we have to at least win 4 games in our group and secure that top 2 spot, and then we can go from there,” Trillo said.
“We’re taking it one game at a time and we’re definitely aiming for that [Final Four spot], so we’ll see how it goes,” Newsome added.
With the win, Meralco has equaled their win total from the last EASL season and now they’re looking forward to eclipse that when they clash with Japan’s Ryukyu Golden Kings in Okinawa next week, October 16.
As for Macau, a newly-added team this season as part of EASL’s expansion, they will try to grab their first win as a member of the league when they face the Ryukyu Golden Kings on October 30 on their home floor.