Blankley drops 47, Bay Area downs Rain or Shine by 30 to clinch semis spot 

The Bay Area Dragons clinched the first semifinals slot in the 2022 PBA Commissioner's Cup after a 30-point victory over the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, 126-96, on Friday in the quarterfinals at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.

It was a wire-to-wire win for the Dragons, who held the playoff bonus, as they pulled away in the second half and led by as much as 34, 85-51, past the halfway mark of the third period. 

Hayden Blankley tallied 47 points, clipped 10 of 13 from deep and 17 of all his 21 field goals to lead the Dragons, on top of his 10 boards, while Andrew Nicholson posted 32 points and eight rebounds in the Bay Area win. 

Rey Nambatac led the Elastopainters with 19 points, import Ryan Pearson had 15 points, while Mike Nieto and Andrei Caracut chipped in 12 points each in the loss.

Bay Area will wait for the winner of the best-of-three series between the Converge FiberXers and the San Miguel Beermen for their semis opponent.

The scores:

Bay Area 126 – Blankley 47, Nicholson 32, Yang 13, Zhu 9, Song 6, Zheng 5, Lam 5, Liu 4, Ewing 3, Reid 2, Si 0, Ju 0, Zhang 0.

Rain or Shine 96 – Nambatac 19, Pearson 15, Caracut 12, Nieto 12, Asistio 9, Mamuyac 8, Clarito 7, Santillan 7, Belga 3, Ponferrada 1, Norwood 0, Guinto 0, Ildefonso 0, Torres 0.

Quarters: 27-16, 60-44, 92-68, 126-96.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News