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PBA: Miller thrills with 33 to give GlobalPort its first win
Meralco's Sol Mercado (left) and Jay-R Reyes (right) could not contain Willie Miller (center) as the Batang Pier guard torched the Bolts with 33.Photo by KC Cruz
Willie Miller scattered 33 points in four quarters to give GlobalPort its first win in the 38th season of the PBA, 105-104, against the Meralco Bolts at the Mall of Asia Arena of Wednesday.
"Kala ko di aabot ngayon kasi ang hirap manalo," said GlobalPort head coach Glenn Capacio. "Alam naman natin na grabe mga teams dito sa PBA. Mahirap, first win. Hopefully masustain namin ito."
The Bolts were still up 12 at the 7:22 mark, before Miller, Jason Deutchman, and AJ Mandani led the Batang Pier with a 12-5 run with two minutes to go. Back to back treys from Deutchman gave GlobalPort a 100-99 lead with 1:13 remaining, before Vic Manuel had a successful defensive stop, blocking fellow rookie Cliff Hodge to give Mandani an and-one play at the other end, 103-99, with 17.4 left in the game.
Meralco was not done, as Ronjay Buenafe hit a three with 5.4 ticks to go to cut the lead to one, before Rabeh Al-Hussaini drained two cluch freethrows with 4.5 seconds left, to hand the Batang Pier its first win, 105-104.
It was a painful loss for Meralco who were coming off a big win over the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings last Saturday. The Bolts had multiple opportunities to break the game wide open, but they were unable to deliver the knockout blow to the already staggering GlobalPort team.
Miller was the best player of the game with 33 points, 11 boards in 6-of-7 shooting from three-point land. Deutchman added 20, while Al-Hussaini and Mandani combined for 29.
Sol Mercado and Buenafe had 30 each as Hodge added 15 in the losing effort. Meralco also got only 2 points from Mac Cardona in 38 minutes of play. - Carlo Pamintuan/Renee Fopalan, GMA News
The scores:
GLOBALPORT 105 - Miller 33, Deutchman 20, Al-Hussaini 17, Mandani 12, Manuel 6, Guevarra 6, Yee 5, Vanlandingham 4, Salvador 2, Lingganay 0, Cruz 0, Antonio 0.
MERALCO 104 - Mercado 30, Buenafe 30, Hodge 15, Reyes 7, Nabong 6, Hugnatan 5, Artadi 4, Salvacion 3, Belencion 2, Cardona 2, Bulawan 0, Borboran 0, Sharma 0.
Quarters: 25-25, 52-48, 76-87, 105-104
