THE Petron Blaze Boosters cruised to their third straight victory by thumping the Air21 Express, 112-86, last night in the 38th PBA Governors’ Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The win pushed the Boosters to the top spot, chalking up three straight wins after an 83-89 loss against the Meralco Bolts to start the season.
Import Elijah Millsap put in 27 markers, while Cebuano center June Mar Fajardo added 17 points.
Marcio Lassiter, Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnor and Chris Lutz also scored in double figures, typifying the Boosters’ balanced attack.
Zach Graham paced the Express with 19 makers, while KG Canaleta and Nelbert Omoloon had 16 and 10, respectively.
The Express absorbed their second straight loss to drop to 1-3 (win-loss).
Meanwhile, the PBA thanked the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for allowing them to use the maple flooring of the PhilSports Arena.
The league borrowed PhilSports Arena’s flooring since the Mall of Asia Arena is refurbishing its own flooring upon the order of the NBA.
The refurbishing is made to make the flooring suitable for the October 10 pre-season game between the Houston Rockets and the Indiana Pacers.
BOX SCORES
PETRON (112) – Millsap 27, Fajardo 17, Lassiter 13, Cabagnot 13, Santos 12, Lutz 10, Yeo 9, Lanete 8, Miranda 3, Deutchman 0, Kramer 0, Tubid 0.
AIR21 (86) – Graham 19, Canaleta 16, Omolon 10, Cortez 8, Manuel 6, Custodio 6, Sharma 6, Arboleda 5, Ritualo 4, Atkins 2, Sena 2, Isip 2, Menor 0.QUARTERSCORES: 24-22, 49-38, 82-60, 112-86. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA