Jeremy Wise continued to make good impression Sunday night, helping Petron Blaze notch a first back-to-back wins since the PBA Philippine Cup finals.
Shaking off a flat start, Wise poured in 17 of his 21 points in the second half as the Boosters drubbed the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 100-89, in a follow-up to their 115-106 walloping of the Air21 Express 48 hours ago.
“I felt the jetlag in the beginning. Probably, I slept too long or something. I have to thank my teammates for carrying me in the first half,” said Wise.
The former Southern Mississippi U stalwart came through with 33 points, six rebounds and the same number of assists in a sterling debut versus the Express.
“In Wise, meron uli kaming go-to-guy,” said Petron coach Ato Agustin of Wise, the replacement to Ricky Harris.
Wise and the Boosters rolled to a second straight win despite the continued absence of Jay Washington, Danny Ildefonso, Noy Baclao and Denok Miranda.
It’s the franchise’s first successive victories since winning Games 3 and 4 of the Philippine Cup best-of-seven series which it lost to Talk n Text in six games.
“J-Wash undertakes an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) test tomorrow (Monday). Mukhang matatagalan pa syang wala but hopefully makabalik na si Noy Baclao and Danny I (Ildefonso) in our next game,” said Agustin.
“Pero kulang o kumpleto, of course laban kami. We have high hopes with Wise in tow,” Agustin added.
“I’m still learning. But I’m ready on whatever role they want me to play. I can be a scorer at two-guard or I can be a point guard,” said Wise.
Versus the Kings, Wise picked up his game in time to anchor Petron to the morale-boosting, come-from-behind win.
Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Mick Pennisi, Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot contributed double-digit outputs as the Boosters overcame an early 10-point deficit, outplaying the Kings in the final half.
Al-Hussaini also finished with 21 points and added seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and oneblock.
Al-Hussaini led the Petron offense in the middle quarters then Wise took over in the payoff period, firing eight points in a 12-5 exchange giving the Boosters a 97-84 cushion entering the last two minutes of play.
The count stood at 49-all at the half after Ginebra set the pace in the opening quarter then Petron seized control in the next.
The Boosters struck hard inside the paint through Al-Hussaini and Santos as they wiped out a nine-point first-quarter deficit to pull even at the half.
The two teams figured in three deadlocks and five lead changes before ending squared-up at the half. (SB)
source: pba.phThe scores:
Petron 100 - Wise 21, Al-Hussaini 21, Pennisi 14, Santos 13, Cabagnot 11, Tugade 9, Salvacion 5, Duncil 2, Yeo 2, Hubalde 2, Guevarra 0.
Ginebra 89 - Stinson 22, Caguioa 17, Intal 15, Cortez 12, De Ocampo 8, Miller 5, Wilson 4, Rodriguez 3, Tubid 2, Wilson 1, Menk 0.
Quarters: 17-26, 49-49, 80-71, 100-89
