New acquisitions step up for Mahindra

Blackwater import Greg Smith maneuvers in the paint against two Mahindra defenders in the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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MAHINDRA drew immediate impact from its new acquisitions to hammer out a morale-boosting win over Blackwater, 96-87, in the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Glenn Khobuntin and Eric Camson, who were brought in on Friday via trade from NLEX in exchange for the embattled Alex Mallari, combined for 24 points and eight rebounds in their debut for the Floodbuster.

“Wow, that’s all I can say right now. Great, amazing effort from our new guys, Glenn and Eric,” said Mahindra coach Chris Gavina.

“As I said coming into this game that our energy is revived and refreshed in the past few days of practice. I can honestly say that the togetherness of these guys going into this game was a high value asset in regards to us winning tonight,” he added.

Both gave Mahindra a lift off the bench with Khobuntin collecting 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and five rebounds.

He scored 13 points alone in the second half including seven in the final frame where the Floodbuster took a 91-79 lead with 4:35 remaining after trailing by two at the end of the third period.

“They just committed to each other, staying to who they were. Glenn and Eric have bought in quick, they’ve only been with us for a few days and they’ve had an immediate impact towards the rest of our guys and our guys have embraced them,” Gavina said.

Reden Celda led Mahindra in scoring with 18 points on top of four rebounds and four assists while import Keith Wright added a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds.

The Elite dropped to 2-7, the same record as the Floodbuster, despite getting a monstrous effort from import Greg Smith, who posted 29 points, 25 rebounds and six assists.