Columbian powers past Meralco for third win in the season

“Final: 86 – 85 in favor of the Columbian Dyip!
Best Player: Rashawn McCarthy with 30 points and 8 rebounds #PBALabanKungLaban” (Photo: PBA/Facebook)

It was Filipino-American Rashawn McCarthy who led the way for his team, with a career-high 30 points. He scored 10 of those points in the fourth quarter alone, which gave his team as much as a six-point lead in the last 2:30 minutes left in the game. Glenn Khobuntin and Eric Camson performed as well for Columbian, contributing 14 points and 10 points each. On the opposing side, Chris Newsome chipped 17 points for Meralco, while Cliff Hodge and Ranidel De Ocampo both provided 14 points individually.

During the post-game interview, Columbian head coach Johnedel Cardel joked in Filipino, “I think I wouldn’t be able to come back here (to the room) after three straight losses,” explaining, “In the long break, I gave the boys a four-day break to forget about basketball because our games were one after the other at that time,” referring to their long break to give way to the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers, also stating, “The kids kind of got burnt. We weren’t able to recover, but it’s a good start for us.”

Coach Johnedel also added to his statement, “I told the guys to forget what happened in the past six games but don’t forget about why we lose.”

Columbian Dyip, who now stands 3-4, will once again try to keep up with their positive performances as they face a struggling Blackwater this Friday, March 1 at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

The Meralco Bolts, who have fallen to 2-4, will attempt to rise from their back-to-back losing streak the next day at Cagayan de Oro City as they face Magnolia.