Blades turn back Knights in opener

The LBC Batangas Blades pounced on the San Juan Knights’ sputtering finish to snatch a come-from-behind 84-81 victory yesterday before a hostile crowd in the opener of the MBA hostilities at the San Juan gym.

Stephen Antonio stood at the forefront of the Blades’ 13-point attack in the final six minutes, scoring six of his 10 points, including four pressure-packed charities that clinched the victory for the visiting squad.

However, it was Eddie Laure who stood out in the day to cop the Player of the Game honors as he dished out a 17-point, 14-rebound, three-shotblock, one-steal performance for the Blades, whose campaign this year has been bolstered by the acquisition of former Manila Metrostars Romel Adducul, Alex Compton, Peter Martin and Jonathan Serrano.

Their presence enabled Batangas coach Nash Racela to work on a deep nine-man rotation with the Blades matching up well with the taller defending champions on both sides of the court.

The Andoks-backed Knights had a chance to send the game into overtime but Chito Victolero’s attempt failed to hit the basket as time expired.

Meanwhile, Adducul was named MVP of the 2000 season after posting per game averages of 19.4 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks for Metrostars. San Juan’s Fil-Am Rafi Reavis was chosen Discovery of the Year for anchoring the Knights’ victory last year with San Juan coach Philip Cezar bagging the Coach of the Year plum.