Eastern saw its import Chris McLaughlin go down with an injury but brushed it aside to pocket win No. 7 over Terrafirma and a quarterfinal ticket in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup.
Chris McLaughlin hurt his left ankle as he landed awkwardly following a dunk attempt against defender Kemark Carino five minutes into Eastern’s joust with Terrafirma in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup on Friday, Jan. 17.
McLaughlin then exited leading to the early struggle of the visitors.
Good thing the squad shook off the loss in the second half to eventually drub Terrafirma, 134-110.
Chris McLaughlin of Eastern | Photo (c) RM Chua/One Sports
Asked about the reinforcement's injury, Eastern head coach Mensur Bajramovic could not give any initial prognosis yet.
“We will see first. It’s ankle injury. He landed on the leg of the opponent,” Bajramovic said.
McLaughlin's absence left the guest team scrambling in the first two quarters.
But his teammates picked up the slack to claim their seventh win in 10 games that came with a quarterfinal ticket.
As they were finding their way in the first half, it was Steven Guinchard who kept them afloat, dropping 17 of his 20 points in the second period.
It was Ramon Cao who topscored for the team with 23 points he spiked with seven rebounds and an assist while Kobey Lam turned in 20 points, four rebounds and 10 assists.
Eastern added to the misery of the Dyip, who dropped all their eleven matches in the mid-season tournament.
Despite a 26-point, 17-rebound and three-assist game from import Brandon Edwards, nothing just seemed to click for beleaguered Terrafirma.
Aljun Melecio fired 17 points, but made some of which only when Eastern had the game in the bag.
Stanley Pringle added 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
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The Scores:
EASTERN 134 – Cao 23, Blankley 23, Lam 20, Guinchard 20, Zhu 13, Pok 11, Leung 9, Yang 7, Chan 6, Xu 4, Cheung 3, McLaughlin 2.
TERRAFIRMA 110 – Edwards 26, Melecio 17, Pringle 16, Sangalang 13, Ferrer 12, Carino 9, Romeo 8, Paraiso 3, Hernandez 3, Manuel 2, Catapusan 1, Nony 0.
Quarterscores: 24-24, 57-53, 88-79, 134-110