Sesay, Realtors drub Panthers

Sta. Lucia gave import Ansu Sesay a warm welcome-back party last night as the Realtors, coming off a forgettable stint in the All-Filipino Cup, opened their campaign in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup with a 95-86 drubbing of the Pop Cola Panthers last night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Sesay, who arrived in the country only a week ago, struggled on the floor but his local teammates showed so much confidence with him back in their lineup, pulling off a decent game together as they made a rousing start in the tournament where they made their first-ever finals appearance last year.

Marlou Aquino and Dennis Espino imposed their strength in the paint while Felix Belano and Paolo Mendoza both performed well at the point versus Johnny Abarrientos as Sta. Lucia bucked Sesay’s mediocre showing and overcame Jason Sasser’s impressive debut with Pop Cola.

Incidentally, it was only Sta. Lucia’s third win in its last nine games in the season. The team finished deadlast in the first conference with a poor 4-10 win-loss record.

"It was a good and important start for us coming off a poor All-Filipino Conference. It’s very evident the players have a lot of confidence with Sesay," said Sta. Lucia coach Norman Black. "Sesay isn’t yet in shape. So our first goal is to get him in shape."

Sesay, the Dallas Mavericks’ second pick in the 1998 NBA rookie draft who won the Best Import award in this conference last year, scored 20 points.