Dyip running smoothly

MANILA, Philippines — In a duel between two seven-foot reinforcements, it was Terrafirma’s Ali Mubashar who stood head and shoulder above Converge counterpart Kylor Kelley.

And powered by Mubashar’s monster 50-point, 25-rebound game, the Dyip roared to a 111-100 overtime shocker over the FiberXers for a leading 2-0 card in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at Ynares Center-Montalban.

After bailing the Dyip out with the game-tying layup in the last 16.6 seconds of regulation, Mubashar completed his heroics and dropped six points in overtime where the FiberXers were held scoreless.

“Ali is a very hardworking guy, a very high-IQ player and he’s a team player,” said coach Ronald Tubid of Mubashar.

“It just happens medyo nag-struggle kami ‘nung una pero nagtiwala kami sa system namin, kung ano ira-run namin na may advantage kami against this team.”

Mubashar scattered 39 big points after the halftime break to spark Terrafirma to the huge followup to its 112-82 rout of Titan. Kelley finished with 17 with 22 boards and six dimes for the FiberXers, who dropped to 1-1.

“Shoutout to my teammates. In the first half, I was fasting. I couldn’t really breathe, I was going up and down trying to do my best. If it wasn’t for them, they were helping me carry on and trusting me to perform, this wouldn’t have been possible,” said Mubashar.

Later, import Jaylen Johnson (29-24-6) showed the way as debuting Rain or Shine defeated guest team Macau, 116-109. The Black Knights fell to 0-2.