Columbian Dyip turn new page, open Commissioner's Cup with impressive rout of Blackwater

MANILA, Philippines – Head coach Ricky Dandan said that his team, then named Kia Picanto, headed into the conference lull with one agenda in mind: changing their attitude.

On Sunday night, that paid off. Now branded as the Columbian Dyip, they went on to make mincemeat of the league's darkhorse Blackwater Elite, 126-98, Sunday night at the Big Dome.

The Dyip trailed the Elite but only during the opening period and just a minute. Jerramy King, who was barely a blip in everyone's radar last season, paced Columbian with 30 markers. Rashawn McCarthy, who was moved to play more in the perimeter by Dandan, chimed in 22.

Import CJ Aiken, barely felt in the scoring department, made up with 22 boards to lead the Columbian. King contributed seven while Jackson Corpuz chipped in six more.

"I expected the game to be more than a grind than anything else but our guys blew them out with their energy," Dandan said of his team's performance.

"Our preparation was mostly attitude-wise. Even if this is just the first game, this is a good morale-boost for us," he added

"It's my best game so far in the PBA. I worked really, really hard and tonight it finally showed up ... After my stint with ROS, I learned a lot there and I brought it here," King said of his game. "I got the opportunity and I'm pretty thankful for that.

"It's really fast-paced and that suits me well. I did the same thing in college. Coach Ricky likes fast, so yeah," the Filipino-American added.

If it's any indication, the preparation yielded results. The change in attitude saw  Columbian register the biggest winning margin in a conference since Meralco's decimation of Blackwater in last season's Governors' Cup, accordingo to chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.

The victory not only changes the initial impression on the league's whipping boys. The team's defensive prowess translated to 22 steals, the second-most in PBA history.

Blackwater, for its part, leaned on Jarrid Famous' 35 points to go with Allein Maliksi and Mac Belo's 11. But they couldn't get  signinficant contributions from the other Elite cagers as they trailed by as many as 30 in the game.

The scores:

Columbian (126): King 30, McCarthy 22, Lastimosa 14, Camson 12, Tubid 12, Aiken 9, Celda 6, Corpuz 6, Khobuntin 6, Cahilig 5, Sara 4

Blackwater (98): Famous 35, Maliksi 22, Belo 11, Erram 8, Pinto 8, Marcelo 4, Digregorio 2, Cruz 2, Sena 2, Palma 2, Jose 2, Sumang 0

Quarter scores: 27-25, 59-55, 87-72, 126-98