Cardona fires 30, powers Bolts to victory over cellar-dwelling Globalport

Mark Cardona finally ended his personal slump by firing 30 points in leading the Meralco Bolts to a, 103-92 win over the listless Globalport Batang Piere last night in the 38th PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

After averaging just 2.5 points in Meralco’s two-game slide, Cardona erupted for a season-high 30 points as the Bolts evened its record to 5-5 (win-loss).

Meralco’s win created a five-way logjam at fourth place with Air21, Barangay Ginebra, San Mig Coffee and Talk N Text all sporting 5-5 records.

Cardona scored just five points when the Bolts lost to the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 84-81, last March 22. Before that, Cardona was held scoreless in the team’s, 71-76 defeat to the San Mig Coffee Mixers last March 15.

Cardona went to work early against Globalport, scoring 15 points in the half that helped the Bolts take a, 48-41 lead into the final two quarters.

Meralco import Eric Dawson also went to work in the offensive end and finished with a game-high 37 markers. Cliff Hodge and Chris Timberlake were the other Bolts in double-figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The game was marred by a verbal altercation between Dawson and Globalport import Junel Baculi. The two jawed at each other leading to their dugouts after the game before they were pacified.

Stuck at the bottom of the standings, Globalport still couldn’t stop the bleeding as it tasted its eighth straight loss to drop to 2-9. The losing streak is the longest in the tournament.

Globalport has not tasted a victory since winning over the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 89-80, last Feb. 15.

Gary David had a big scoring night with his 15 points, while import Sylvester Morgan contributed 22. Solomon Mercado scored 11 points, while Mark Yee had 10.