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Meralco picks up first EASL win in home debut

Sports | Basketball

Meralco picks up first EASL win in home debut

By Reynald I. Magallon

At A Glance

Iranian Asian import Sina Vahedi made quite an impression in his debut, steering Meralco to an 85-76 victory against Taoyuan Pilots for its first win in the East Asia Super League right at his home turf at the Capital Arena in Ilagan City, Isabela on Saturday, Nov. 8.

Iranian Asian import Sina Vahedi made quite an impression in his debut, steering Meralco to an 85-76 victory against Taoyuan Pilots for its first win in the East Asia Super League right at his home turf at the Capital Arena in Ilagan City, Isabela on Saturday, Nov. 8.

Vahedi, the star playmaker of the Iran national team, fired 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds as the Bolts seized advantage early on and then kept the Taiwanese team on the rear en route to the breakthrough win.

Puerto Rican import Ismael Romero also finished with a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as Meralco also got back at Taoyuan which defeated the Philippine representative, 82-72, in Taiwan.

Chris Newsome was the only local in double-figures with 14 points – built on four triples – to go with six assists while naturalized player Ange Kouame, who took the spot of ill-stricken Justin Brownlee in the roster, chipped in three points and four rebounds in his debut.

With the win, Meralco breathed life to its playoff hopes after opening the season with a 0-2 slate.

The Bolts improved to a 1-2 record good for the third spot in the Group B standings but just half a game behind second running Ryukyu Golden Kings with a 1-1 record. The Pilots top the standings with a 2-1 slate.

Setric Milner paced Taoyuan with 19 points and seven rebounds while Chun-Hsiang Lu chipped in 17 points.

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