Well-oiled Terrafirma races to 3-0 record

ANTIPOLO , Philippines — And off they roll to a third straight victory.

Keeping their feet on the pedal, the revved up Terrafirma Dyip ran over the Blackwater Bossing, 99-88, to seize pole position in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Ynares Center here.

Terrafirma’s locals provided more offensive contributions in this followup to their 102-82 rout over Titan and 111-100 overtime shocker over Converge, easing the load on prolific import Mubashar Ali.

The seven-foot Ali, who dished out a monster 50-point, 25-rebound performance against the FiberXers, shot 22 and collared 23 boards this time with Paolo Hernandez (20), Jerrick Ahanmisi (18), Joseph Eriobu (12) and Maverick Ahanmisi (10) producing double-digit scores.

Sedrick Barefield provided the lone bright spot with 25 for the Bossing, who fell to 0-2. Blackwater’s reinforcement Daniel Ochefu managed only 11 markers with seven boards.

“Gusto naming ibahin ang culture kasi for the past conferences sobrang down kami, maraming issues na nangyari,” said Hernandez. “With the help of coach Ronald (Tubid) and management, nabuo kami as a team. We’re 3-0 na. Hopefully matuloy namin.”

Straight out of the opening tip, the Dyip torched the hoops with back-to-back triples from JM Bravo and Hernandez and a four-ball from Jerrick Ahanmisi for a 10-0 running start.

They extended the margin to a high of 20 at 40-20 before the Bossing, led by Barefield, cut the Dyip’s lead to a solitary point heading to the halftime break.

But Tubid’s charges regrouped and widened the gap anew with a 25-17 salvo in the third, never to relinquish control.

“Sobrang ganda ng start pero we went one-on-one ‘nung second quarter when we were up by 20. So ‘yun ang problema ‘pag young team, sometimes nalilihis so we see to it bumalik doon sa dating direksyon,” Tubid said.