Powell erupts for 50 points, 11 threes in 3 quarters as Bay Area buries ROS

MANILA, Philippines – Myles Powell had himself a memorable return for Bay Area in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup as the Dragons handed Rain or Shine a 120-87 burial at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City on Friday, November 11.

The 6-foot-2 guard exploded for a conference-high 50 points in just a 31-minute run across the first three quarters – tying the scoring mark set by none other than his teammate Andrew Nicholson in their last game against Meralco. (READ: Bay Area brings backs Powell as import, shelves Nicholson)

Powell built his scoring barrage on a whopping 11-of-17 clip from three, marking the first time an import dropped that number of triples since Mobiline’s Jerold Ward way back in the 2001 Commissioner’s Cup, according to the league’s chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.

Coming off a 32-37 deficit early in the second quarter, Bay Area unleashed a 25-5 barrage, powered by a 14-point, four-triple spree by Powell on the way to a 57-42 halftime lead.

The former Philadelphia 76er dropped 20 more points and his last four triples in the breakaway third period, where Rain or Shine barely outscored Powell by himself as the Dragons entered the fourth up 29, 87-58, and never looked back, even with Powell nailed to the bench for the rest of the final frame.

“Just full credit to [Myles]. The big thing is keeping these guys engaged while they’re not playing, and I thought [Nicholson] did a tremendous job with it while Myles was playing, and now you’ve got that situation where Myles had to sit a month,” said Bay Area head coach Brian Goorjian.

“You can see what he did tonight. He hasn’t lost his game during that period of time.”

Anton Asistio was one of the few Rain or Shine players who got going on offense as he paced the loss with 20 points on 6-of-13 three-point shooting from the bench, while Rey Nambatac scored 12 with 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists.

Now with a 7-2 record, Bay Area momentarily holds a win-over-the-other tiebreaker over fellow 7-2 team Converge for second place behind 6-1 Magnolia. The Dragons will next face NLEX on Sunday, November 13, 4:30 pm, at the Araneta Coliseum.

Rain or Shine, meanwhile, slides on the edge of quarterfinal contention at seventh place with a 4-5 slate, tied with NorthPort. The Elasto Painters will try to bounce back against the streaking FiberXers also on Sunday at 5:45 pm.

The Scores

Bay Area 120 – Powell 50, Liu 11, Song 9, Lam 9, Ju 7, Blankley 6, Zhu 6, Ewing 6, Si 6, Zheng 4, Yang 2, Zhang 2, Reid 2, Liang 0.

Rain or Shine 87 – Asistio 20, Nambatac 12, Pearson 9, Norwood 9, Nieto 8, Belga 6, Caracut 5, Ponferrada 5, Santillan 4, Clarito 3, Torres 2, Borboran 2, Demusis 2, Guinto 0, Mamuyac 0, Ildefonso 0.

Quarters: 28-27, 57-42, 87-58, 120-87.

– Rappler.com