By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The Bay Area Dragons rode on the endgame heroics of Myles Powell to beat Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, 95-89, in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Saturday night, November 19, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
After seeing their double-digit lead trimmed to 79-82 by a furious Magnolia rally in the fourth quarter, Bay Area got a conversion from Songwei Zhu and Powell to stretch the lead to 87-79.
The Hotshots made their last push at 83-87 with over three minutes left, but Powell drilled back-to-back two pointers to make it 91-84 before Zhu wrapped up the win for the Dragons with his free throws.
Powell ended the match with 32 points despite struggling early in the game to go with 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals as the Dragons snagged solo first place with a 9-2 record.
Glen Yang regained his scoring for the visiting Dragons as he ended up with 19 markers, while Zhu chipped in 15 markers, while 7-foot-5 big man Liu Chuanxing ended with eight points and five boards.
Nicholas Rakocevic tallied double-double 26 points and 19 rebounds, while Jiovani Jalalon and Paul Lee added 19 and 15 markers, respectively, as the Hotshots dropped to 8-2.
In the first game, San Miguel Beermen returned to their win after a 108-104 escape over Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters. The Beermen snapped their two-game losing skid to improve to 4-5, while the Fuel Masters dropped to 5-6.
After seeing their double-digit lead cut to 99-98 after a triple by Fuel Masters’ Tyler Tio, the Beermen got timely conversions from Moala Tautuaa, Jaymar Perez and Devon Scott to pull away anew at 105-99.
The Fuel Masters made its last push at 104-105 after another three-point conversion from Tio, but a split free throw by Scott followed by two more freebies from Perez sealed the win for the Beermen.
Simon Enciso drilled six triples for 20 points, Scott added 18 markers, 14 rebounds and six assists, Perez chipped in 16 markers, while Marcio Lassiter, Moala Tautuaa and Jericho Cruz ended up with 14, 12 and 11 markers, respectively, for the Beermen.
BAY AREA 95 — Powell 32, Tang 19, Zhu 15, Ju 8, Liu 8, Reid 6, Blankley 5, Lam 2, Zheng 0.
MAGNOLIA 89 — Rakocevic 26, Jalalon 19, Lee 15, Sangalang 8, Ahanmisi 6, Abueva 4, Dela Rosa 3, Dionisio 3, Wong 3, Barroca 2, Reavis 0, Corpuz 0.
Quarterscores: 25-21, 47-44, 73-64, 95-89./ASC, WDJ