MANILA, Philippines – Guest team Hong Kong Eastern announced its arrival in the PBA with a bang.
Eastern aced its first test in the Commissioner’s Cup after a 102-87 win over Phoenix at the PhilSports Arena on Wednesday, November 27.
Back in the league after stints with NLEX and San Miguel, Cameron Clark put up 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks, as Eastern became the 12th foreign team to play in the PBA, according to chief statistician Fidel Mangonon.
Aside from Clark, Eastern featured other familiar players in Hayden Blankley, Glen Yang, and Kobey Lam, members of the Bay Area Dragons squad that lost to Barangay Ginebra in the Commissioner’s Cup finals two years ago.
Blankley finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks, Yang tallied 13 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals, while Lam produced 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.
“I saw some comments like we are like Bay Area 2.0. We are not. We are really pure Hong Kong team with some additional power,” said Eastern head coach Mensur Bajramovic.
“This is the first experience to me, and of course, to other players. As we talked before the game, that was my biggest concern. We did not play enough games together.”
“In some moments, it was obvious that we missed timing, we missed some situation in defense and everything. But I also want to congrats my players. They were above my expectations.”
Limited to just 3 points in the first half, Blankley took over and scattered 10 points in the third quarter as Eastern turned a slim 49-45 lead to a 77-65 spread and cruised the rest of the way.
Blankley also gave Eastern its biggest lead at 93-72 by scoring on a layup off a Yang assist with seven minutes remaining.
“It was an unreal sort of experience now being able to get like a second chance with some of my teammates from the Bay Area team that I was really close with,” said Blankley.
Burly import Donovan Smith paced the Fuel Masters with 33 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 steals, but his effort went for naught as Phoenix doomed itself with its inconsistent three-point shooting and failure to take care of the ball.
The Fuel Masters shot just 15% from three-point land (2-of-13) and recorded more turnovers (23) than assists (17).
Jason Perkins supported Smith in the losing effort with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
The Scores
Hong Kong Eastern 102 – Clark 25, Blankley 18, Yang 13, Cheung 11, Lam 8, Cao 8, Xu 8, Guinchard 5, Leung 3, Chan 3, Sulaiman 0, Pok 0.
Phoenix 87 – Smith 33, Perkins 22, Rivero 10, Alejandro 8, Tuffin 4, Garcia 3, Ballungay 2, Manganti 2, Tio 2, Jazul 1, Camacho 0, Daves 0, Ular 0, Muyang 0, Verano 0.
Quarters: 23-14, 49-45, 77-65, 102-87.
– Rappler.com