Ironmen hold off Dragons in opener

MANILA, Philippines –  Cobra Energy Drink shackled Maynilad Water with a rugged defense and Paul Lee exploded with 26 points as the Ironmen hammered out a 78-70 victory over the Water Dragons in the inaugurals of the PBA Developmental League at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

Lee also dished off 11 assists and missed turning in a triple-double performance with eight rebounds in an impressive start by the former University of the East stalwart.

While Lee took charge of offense, the rest of the Ironmen provided the defensive gem as they held the Water Dragons, bannered by the core of the San Beda team that swept its way to last year’s NCAA crown, with a physical defense all game.

“The game plan was to frustrate them with a defense we hoped they haven’t encountered before and we succeeded,” said Cobra coach Lawrence Chongson.

“Despite some lapses, Paul (Lee) just played true to form but we haven’t seen his A-game yet,” he added.

Earlier, RnW Pacific Pipes gave its rookie coach Topex Robinson a fitting welcome as it turned back a tough PC Gilmore side, 76-72, in the very first game of the league, which serves as a breeding ground of talents.

Jim Bruce Viray, who played pro ball for Barako Bull, paced the Green Pipers with 18 points while Vic Manuel, a product of PSBA, added 15 points.

Lee fired four triples in the third period as Cobra closed out the quarter ahead by a whopping 22-point lead, 65-43, before the Ironmen cruised to victory in the fourth.

Cobra’s tough defense also held Sudan Daniel, the reigning NCAA MVP who anchored the Lions’ historic 18-game title sweep last year, to just three points and was ejected after a flagrant-2 foul on John Foronad late in the third.

Fil-Aussie Anthony Semerad, Dave Marcelo, Jake Pascual and Rome dela Rosa churned out double figure outputs with 13, 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively, but the Water Dragons had a tough time adjusting to the “no harm, no foul” rule of pro ball, which the D-League is implementing in its inaugural staging although each quarter is played over 10 minutes, unlike in the pros, which is 12 minutes.