MERALCO lost spark after taking an early 11-point lead and bowed to host Shabab Al Ahli, 87-101, at the start of the Basketball Champions League Asia Saturday night in Dubai.
The reigning PBA Philippine Cup titlists got going in the second canto of the Group B duel and unleashed a 17-2 blast to create a 54-43 separation.
But the Bolts failed to sustain the charge, allowing the Red Knights to strike back,10-2, to make it a manageable three-point contest then wrested full control with a 48-31 exchange in the final half.
Deshawndre Washington banged in 40 plus seven rebounds, six assists and four steals for Shabab, which hurt Meralco with its 10-of-18 a from deep (56%) and big advantage in points off transition, 24-14, and in the inside scoring, 50-38.
“They gave us a lot of problems. They shot the ball extremely well from the three-point line, did well in transition as well which partially was our fault,” said Meralco active consultant Nenad Vucinic.
American reinforcements Glynn Watson and Jordon Varnado netted 19 apiece to show the way for the Bolts as main man Chris Newsome produced 15 and Nigerian import John Egbunu had a 12-11 double-double.
Mr. Vucinic rued the lack of jelling between the locals and the three foreign players, who only had days to train together.
“It was difficult for us to get some cohesion because we were just joined by three players recently. At the moment, we’re playing in the Philippines without any foreign players. We got three good players but it’s very hard to get cohesion. We’re hoping as the tournament goes that we’re going to get better.”
The Bolts would need to get in sync fast, though, as they were slated to face Japanese kingpin Utsunomiya Brex last night, barely 24 hours after the hosts, with their bid for a Last-8 spot on the line. — Olmin Leyba
The scores:
Shabab Al Ahli 101 – Washington 40, Love 22, Alshabebi 15, H. Albreiki 13, Hawley 8, Alameri 3, A. Albreiki 0, S. Alajmani 0, M. Alajmani 0, Alnuaimi 0.
Meralco 87 – Varnado 19, Watson 19, Newsome 15, Egbunu 12, Banchero 11, Almazan 5, Hodge 4, Quinto 2, Cansino 0, Black 0.
Quarterscores: 35-27; 53-56; 79-74; 101-87.
