By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Bay Area Dragons immediately buckled to work and were all business after crushing the Blackwater Bossing during their opening game, 133-87, in the ongoing 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Invited as a guest team in partnership with the East Asia Super League (EASL), Bay Area didn’t show any signs of rust and negated unfamiliarity in the territory.
Former NBA sniper Myles Powell was a beast for the Dragons after torching Blackwater with 41 big points built from 14/28 shooting from the field.
Aside from his flawless offense, Powell also contributed eight rebounds and three assists that capped off a stellar all-around PBA debut.
Blackwater’s only chance to take the lead was during the first quarter, 5-3 before the guests snowballed their way to an 18-2 run and never looked back.
Glen Yang backstopped Powell with 22 points on 7/12 shooting from the field while giant Chuanxing Liu had nine points and 13 rebounds.
“I think at the start of the game, our defense was good. We stayed in front of them. We did a good job on the on-balls, and then on the offensive end, we really clicked,” said Bay Area head coach Brian Goorjian.
Two players only scored double digits for Blackwater, sensational Rookie Ato Ular who chipped in 13 points and 14 rebounds and veteran guard Rashawn McCarthy who fired 11 points off the bench.
It was a disappointing opener for Blackwater’s import Cameron Krutwig who only scored 11 points on 5/16 shooting alongside 12 rebounds and eight assists.
Blackwater will have the chance to enter the winning column as they face the Phoenix Fuel Masters in their next game while Bay Area will be matched up with Robert Bolick and the NorthPort Batang Pier, all this Saturday.
