Top draft pick Christian Standhardinger got a rude welcome to the PBA as the Meralco Bolts defeated the San Miguel Beer, 93-85, in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
As a result, the Bolts picked up their third win to improve their win-loss record at 3-1, as they took advantage of a San Miguel team still finding its form in its first game of the conference.
Baser Amer, who exploded for game-high 28 points, highlighted by five triples, eight rebounds, three assists, and one steal in 34 minutes, conspired with Chris Newsome in the clutch, as the latter ended up with 23 points, seven boards, four assists, one steal, and one block in almost 40 minutes of play.
Down by seven points with less than eight minutes left in the game, the Bolts tightened their defense and went on a 25-10 rampage to turn the game around and frustrate the defending champions.
Fresh from an ABL stint, 2017 PBA Draft first overall pick Christian Standhardinger got a harsh taste of life in the PBA in his highly-anticipated debut, as the prized rookie was limited to just four points on 2-of-5 shooting, five boards, two assists, and two steals, while committing five fouls in almost 20 minutes off the bench.
Troy Gillenwater paced the Beermen with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while June Mar Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot added 15 markers apiece.
The scores:
MERALCO 93 – Amer 28, Newsome 23, Dillinger 14, Onuaku 13, Hodge 5, Caram 5, Tolomia 2, Baracael 2, Canaleta 1, Bono 0, Hugnatan 0.
SAN MIGUEL 85 – Gillenwater 19, Cabagnot 16, Fajardo 16, Lassiter 15, Santos 10, Standhardinger 4, Heruela 3, Ross 2, Pessumal 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.
Quarter scores: 23-24, 46-41, 65-68, 93-85.