Eastern downs winless Terrafirma to book QF slot

Hong Kong Eastern booked a slot in the PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals after beating Terrafirma Dyip, 134-110, Friday at the Philsports Arena.

Eastern returned to the win column after falling to Meralco last January 5.

Terrafirma was leading 79-78 with 2:22 remaining in the third period before Eastern made a 10-0 run to close the third quarter with an 88-79 lead.

The Hong Kong-based squad pulled away in the fourth quarter and led by as much as 29, 131-102, with 1:23 left in the said period as Eastern outscored the Dyip, 45-31, in the deciding frame.

"The game started after the first 24 minutes for us. We were not good the first two quarters, like the energy since the first minute was not on the level that we need for a win so we had a meeting in the locker room and my players came a little bit better than the beginning," Eastern head coach Mensur Bajramovi? said.

Ramon Cao led with 23 points while Steven Guinchard and Kobey Lam added 20 points apiece as Eastern improved to 7-3. Chris McLaughlin was limited to only around five minutes of play after being down due to an apparent ankle injury.

Brandon Edwards had 26 points, 17 rebounds, and three assists to lead the luckless Dyip, while Aljun Melecio added 17 points. 

Scores:

Eastern 134 – Cao 23, Lam 20, Guinchard 20, Blankley 16, Zhu 13, Pok 11, Leung 9, Yang 7, Chan 6, Xu 4, Cheung 3, McLaughlin 2.

Terrafirma 110 – Edwards 26, Melecio 17, Pringle 16, Sangalang 13, Ferrer 12, Carino 9, Romeo 8, Paraiso 3, Hernandez 3, Manuel 2, Catapusan 1, Nony 0.

Quarters: 24-24, 57-53, 88-79, 134-110.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News