New import Tim Moore dished out a mediocre performance but the whole Air 2001/FedEx squad played with a lot of guts to chalk up its first win in the Philippine Basketball Association at the expense of Shell, 68-62, last night at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Express outhustled and outplayed the Turbo Chargers at crunch time, barging into the win-column of the Samsung Governors Cup following back-to-back losses to the Coca-Cola Tigers and the Red Bull Thunder.
"We’re on our third week as a team and we’re slowly getting there," said FedEx coach Derick Pumaren. "The new format is working to our advantage. Parang one game a week lang ang bawa’t isang team. Dahil dito, we’re getting time to recover from losses."
Replacing Rodrick Rhodes, Moore didn’t turn out to be a much better import — at least last night — but the Express worked so hard to overcome the Turbo Chargers, handing Shell its second defeat in three games.
Bong Alvarez, Dindo Pumaren and Yancy de Ocampo made their presence felt, coming up with hustle and scoring plays in a vicious 17-6 finishing kick by FedEx. The three combined for 13 of the team’s 20-point output in the fourth quarter.
Moore actually showed offensive brilliance at the start, going 3-of-3 from the three-point area and pacing all scorers with 13 points in the first half. However, he fired blanks in the second half, winding up with only 15 in the contest.
Jarmaine Walker was nothing different, firing only 17 points on 6-of-25 shooting from the floor.
Sta. Lucia likewise barged into the win-column as the Realtors broke away in the third quarter and survived a fierce chase by the Barangay Ginebra Kings at endgame for a 75-72 decision in the nightcap.
The Realtors scored their first win in two outings while keeping the Kings winless in three starts.