Even before the game could start, Eliud Poligrates already made his presence felt when the crowd cheered him albeit for the wrong reasons after he botched his pre-game speech.
Three quarters later, the wily guard again sent the fair-sized crowd at the Cebu Coliseum into a frenzy, this time because of highlight reels that buoyed the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters to an 89-80 win over the Meralco Bolts in the Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao kickoff of the 39th PBA Philippine Cup yesterday.
Barangay Ginebra started the season with an 86-69 rout over San Mig Coffee at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City while the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters withstood the Alaska Aces, 87-74, at the USEP gym in Davao City yesterday, completing the triple-header treat around the archipelago.
Poligrates, the 27th pick in the Rookie Draft, put up a smashing debut capped by a sterling fourth quarter performance, where he scored nine of his 13 points, helping the Texters seal the win after trailing for the large part of the game.
Poligrates addressed the crowd before the tip-off but the Southwestern University Cobra fumbled.
“Salamat sa pag-suporta sa PBA Basketball Philippines,” said Poligrates, drawing laughter from the crowd. He checked into the game in the 4:20 mark of the first quarter and made his first basket seventy-five seconds later, a nifty left-handed reverse lay-up that drew thunderous applause.
The Camotes Island-native player made his second field goal in the 2:38 mark of the second period, a hang-time fast break lay-up.
The Bolts led by as many as eight points in the second stanza but the Texters managed to forge a 42-all stand-off at the break.
Meralco took a 66-64 lead into the payoff period but the lead quickly vanished when Kelly Williams scored six in an 8-0 run, giving the Texters a 72-66 lead.
Poligrates then put on a dazzling show, scoring nine straight points as the Texters built the first double-digit lead of the game, 81-70.
Poligrates capped that string of baskets with an eye-popping three-pointer that saw him doing a cross-over move before pulling up a step-back trifecta over the outstretched arms of Gary David.
“I had a good performance because of the support of the Cebuano crowd,” said Poligrates, who went 6-for-10 from the field.
Talk ‘N Text assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga said Poligrates can show more.
“Ang ipinakita nya ngayon ay hindi tsamba. He was given given ample minutes dahil maganda ang pinakita nya sa practice at tune-up games. We were lucky to get him,” Arespacochaga said.
Gary David debuted for Meralco with a game-high 26 points but didn’t get ample support from his teammates as Jared Dillinger was the only other Bolts to finish in twin digits with 11.