Durham dazzles as Meralco gets past Phoenix in Governors’ Cup opener

IMPRESSIVE: Meralco's Allen Durham attempts a pass against Phoenix Petroleum in the Governors’ Cup basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum, Friday night. (AN photo)

Norman Black has seen it all in a long career in the PBA.
Which means that he has some basis in mentioning the name of Allen Durham alongside some of the most dominant imports the league has seen over the years.
“I don’t want to call anybody a horse,” Black said of his import, who poured in 32 points that went with 22 rebounds and five assists in leading Meralco to a 108-103 win over Phoenix Petroleum at the start of the Governors’ Cup on Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum.
“He’s a thoroughbred,” continued Black. “He reminds me of Billy Ray Bates, Bobby Parks, David Thirdkill, those imports, who can do it all.”
Durham didn’t only post great numbers, but he led the Bolts in coming up with the telling blitz inside the final four minutes that had Meralco erasing a 95-97 deficit to win convincingly and get its campaign in the season-ending conference off on the right foot.
“We’re blessed to have him,” Black went on in praising Durham, who first saw action in the PBA with defunct Air21. “He can score, rebound and is a willing passer. And the best thing about him is that he has a great attitude. He’s not selfish.”
Meralco actually led by as large as 15, but trailed by three early in the fourth period.
Cliff Hodge tied the count for the last time at 97 with 3:40 remaining, touching off a 10-3 spurt where Durham scored six of the next eight points, including a follow-up slam of a Hodge miss, that made it 105-100 going into the final 43 ticks.
Phoenix doomed itself in the stretch with four of its 18 turnovers, as new coach Ariel Vanguardia’s league debut became a losing one.
The Fuel Masters also kept new recruit Cyrus Baguio in the freezer, with the 35-year-old veteran only joining the team two days ago after being traded by Alaska.
Jimmy Alapag and Jared Dillinger chipped in 15 points each for the Bolts, who are out to improve on a Final Four stint in the Commissioner’s Cup by bringing in Durham and an Asian import in Mohammed Jamshidi.
Black said that, for the first time since taking over Meralco, he has title aspirations here with Durham and Jamshidi, one of the stars of the Iranian National team who played just 14 minutes after arriving in the country only on Thursday afternoon.
Jamshidi made his first shot but finished with just nine points, his last seven coming from the free throw line.
He was broken into the team by Black in the parking area of the coliseum where there are two warm-up baskets as he did not have the benefit of a practice with the team before playing.
“We kept things as simple as possible for him,” Black said of the 6-foot-3 Jamshidi. “Tomorrow (Saturday), we’ll be able to teach him a lot more of the team’s system on both ends.”
Meralco returns to the floor on Sunday against Alaska.
Marcus Simmons led the Fuel Masters with 21 points, with Simon Enciso, who saw action for NLEX in the last conference, finishing with 16, including a triple with 2:08 remaining that shoved Phoenix within 101-100.
Mahindra posted the first upset of the tournament by nipping talent-rich Star in overtime, 100-92, in the second game.
The Enforcers got 22 points from import James White and twin digits from four others as they showed up a totally different team after tapping a new assistant coach in Chris Gavina.
Marqus Blakely, a two-time former Best Import, had 21 points and 15 rebounds but still couldn’t rescue the Hotshots, who scored just five points in extension. Blakely also missed a free throw in the waning seconds of regulation, which ended at 87-all.