Jaylen Johnson introduced himself to the PBA in style, powering Rain or Shine to a 116-109 victory over Macau to open its Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup campaign at the Ynares Center Montalban on Saturday, March 14.
The 6-foot-9 center flexed his muscle for 29 points and 24 rebounds to go with six assists as the Elasto Painters held on and survived the repeated rallies from the Black Knights.
Adrian Nocum amply supported Johnson with 19 points – 15 of which he fired in the second half when Rain or Shine seized control after trailing by double digits in the first half.
He also had a crucial and-1 play that restored order for ROS after Macau tied the game with 41 seconds left.
Nocum actually filled the stat sheet with five rebounds, four assists and four steals while Jhonard Clarito added 16 points and nine rebounds.
Gian Mamuyac added 11 while Caelan Tiongson chipped in six points, six rebounds and nine assists.
Macau, like in its first game, led by double-digits but just couldn’t sustain it in the second half. The Black Knights absorbed their second loss in as many games in the PBA.
Phoenix Shackelford led the way with 25 points while Damian Chongqui and Jenning Leung added 22 and 20 in a losing effort.
Meanwhile, Ali Mubashar erupted for 50 points including the big hits in crunchtime as Terrafirma claimed the giant Converge scalp in overtime, 111-100.
The Dyip blanked the FiberXers in the extra period to pull away from the tight contest and give the perennial cellar dwellers a rare 2-0 start in the mid-season conference.
Terrafirma actually closed out the game with a searing 13-0 beginning on the game-tying layup from Mubashar off a perfectly executed play on a sidecourt inbound from Maverick Ahanmisi.
That shot sent the game to overtime after a 100-all count at the end of regulation. From there, it was simply all Terrafirma stringing together 11 straight points to complete the huge upset.
Mubashar had 25 of his total output in the final frame and overtime – none bigger than the booming triple that served as the dagger to the hearts of the FiberXers, 107-100.
The 7-foot import also hauled down 25 rebounds while Jerrick Ahanmisi and Paolo Hernandez provided support with 14 and 13 respectively.
Geo Chiu added nine points and 13 rebounds while Maverick did a little bit over everything with eight points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Kylor Kelly and Juan Gomez de Liaño paced Converge with 17 apiece.
