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Meralco Bolts has defeated the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, 99-94 in the opening game of the PBA’s 49th Season.

Returning import Allen Durham led the Bolts with a double-double scoring 20 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. 

Chris Banchero, who sank the first-ever four-pointer in PBA history, backed Durham with 14 points while Meralco’s captain Christ Newsome added 13 and energy-bunny Cliff Hodge chipped in 12 including nine rebounds and five assists.

Sophomore Jolo Mendoza also made an impact by scoring 13 including the second four-pointer of the game including 3-of-3 shooting from the arc. He even got an ovation from the fans when he was subbed out after giving quality minutes for his team.

On the other hand, Magnolia’s import Glenn Robinson III scored the game-high 29 points, including the first five points of the game highlighted by a three-point play. He added 11 rebounds in his debut in playing overseas.

Ian Sangalang led the Hotshots locals with 17 markers while Paul Lee added 14 including the lone four-point shot of the team when he made in the closing minutes of the game.

The Hotshots actually got off to a good start with a 5-0 run by Robinson himself until Meralco made a 9-0 counter run but countered again by Magnolia with 4-0.

Even though the two defense-oriented teams have runs of their own, they still have a low scoring first quarter with Meralco leading 16-12.

Another exchange of runs happened in the second quarter and Meralco still led at halftime, 43-39.

After the break, offense started clicking for both teams but Meralco did better and even pushed the lead to 11 point lead at the end of third, 74-63.

In the final period, the Bolts erected the largest lead of the game at 14 but the Hotshots made a comeback and cut down the lead to two off Glenn Robinson III three-point basket with less than a minute remaining.

The Hotshots then sent Chris Newsome to the free throw line. Newsome missed the first one and made his second attempt In the next play, Robinson took the potential first ever game-winning four-pointer in history over the outstretched arm of Newsome but he missed the shot.

Allen Durham grabbed the rebound and got fouled. He made the two charity stripes given him to seal the game at 99-94.

Meralco and Magnolia will take on one another again on September 7 at the Panabo Multi-Purpose Tourism, Cultural, and Sports Gymnasium in Davao.

The Scores:

Meralco 99 – Durham 20, Banchero 14, Newsome 13, Mendoza 13, Hodge 12, Quinto 9, Black 6, Rios 3, Pasaol 3, Cansino 2, Bates 2, Pascual 2, Caram 0, Torres 0.

Magnolia Chicken Timplados 94 – Robinson III 29, Sangalang 17, Lee 14, Barroca 9, Lucero 7, Ahanmisi 6, Dela Rosa 5, Laput 4, Mendoza 3, Abueva 0, Dionisio 0, Escoto 0.

The Philippine Basketball Association 49th season opened the ceremony by acknowledging athletes and giving entertainment.

When the curtains were raised at 5pm on Sunday, August 18 at the Araneta Coliseum.

TV5 sports news anchor Tito Mikee Reyes and radio-TV host Ana Ramsey set the mood for the PBA’s opening night as they hosted the event.

Then, the team muses together with the PBA board of governors came up on stage followed by the introduction of the team roster with their imports.

Team muses were composed of different personalities from sports including Olympinas, beauty queens and celebrities.

Singer-actress Julie Ann San Jose (who’s Magnolia muse last year) was the muse for the crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra, Olympian gymnast Aleah Finnegan for Meralco, volleyball star Jema Galanza for Phoenix, figure skater Charmaine Syke Chua for NorthPort, SEA games medalist in karate Jamie Lim for San Miguel (Jamie’s father Samboy was one of the SMB’s icon in the 90’s), Miss World Philippines 2024 Krishnah Gravidez for Blackwater, streamer-host-model Myrtle Sarrosa for Converge, actress and model Rere Madrid for Magnolia, host-beauty queen Inday Fatima for NLEX, beauty queen Sophia Bianca Santos for Rain or Shine, pageant icon Annabelle Mcdonnel, and Eat Bulaga host Atasha Mulach for TNT.

Olympic bronze medalists boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas also joined them on stage.

After teams were introduced and the Season 49 officially opened, PBA featured performances from actress Angeli Khang, rapper Hev Abi and singer-songwriter Arthur Nery.

Adding to the entertainment was the performance of “Parokya ni Kume” composed of Robert Bolick (vocals), Arvin Tolentino (vocals), Larry Muyang (vocals), Russel Escoto (guitars), Keith Datu (guitars) and Japeth Aguilar (drums). They rendered the song “Picha Pie” to the delight of the crowd.

One more surprise was the dance number of the “PBA TikTokerist” which Robert Bolick was part of again. He was joined by Matt Nieto, Scottie Thompson, Ralph Cu, Frederick Tungcab, Tyrus Hill, Mike Nieto, Aljun Melecio, Calvin Abueva, Jerrick Ahanmisi, Aaron Black, Brandon Bates, John Amores, Fran Yu, Adrian Nocum, Shaun Ildefonso, Ricci Rivero, Kent Salado, Marcia Lassiter, Kyt Jimenez, Juami Tiongson, Kevin Ferrer, Kim Aurin, and Calvin Oftana.

The group danced to several songs, including the “Salamin, Salamin” that made the crowd cheer louder as they got ready for the first game of the season.

June Mar Fajardo bagged another trophy to his collection as he was named Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Most Valuable Player for the eight time.

The MVP plum was given on Sunday, August 18 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum during the Leo Awards before the opening ceremony of the PBA’s 49th Season.

Fajardo defeated his teammate CJ Perez and now Terrafirma’s Christian Standhardinger to be called the unprecedented eight-time MVP.

The previous record that Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio held for a long time was four. But when JMF broke the record and made it five, he continually improved to get one after another.

In his speech, Fajardo jokingly said that “Sana next year uli (Hopefully next year again)” drawing laughter from the crowd in the venue.

Fajardo won the statistics, media votes, and player votes by wide margin to become the overwhelming winner of the award.

JMF also led the PBA 49th Season Mythical First Team, together with his fellow MVP candidates, CJ Perez and Christian Standhardinger, joined by Arvin Tolentino of NorthPort and Chris Newsome of Meralco to complete the group.

The Second Mythical Team on the other hand was composed of Meralco’s Cliff Hodge, TNT’s Calvin Oftana, Phoenix’ Jason Perkins, Terrafirma’s Juami Tiongson and now Barangay Ginebra’s Stephen Holt.

Holt, the top overall pick of Terrafirma last season was named the Rookie of the Year.

“The Kraken” also led the All-Defensive Team where he was joined by Newsome, Hodge, Terrafirma’s Kenmark Carino and NorthPort’s Joshua Munzon.

Completing the Leo Awardees were Jhonard Clarito of Rain or Shine who bagged the Most Improved Player plum and Paul Zamar of NorthPort received the Sportsmanship award honors.

Two days before the opening day of the PBA’s 49th Season, Terrafirma Dyip tapped the services of their former import, Antonio Hester.

Hester will be on his third tour of duty in the league and it became possible after an unfortunate injury happened to Brandon Edwards.

Edwards was the original import of the Terrafirma in the season opening conference Governors’ Cup but he suffered an ACL injury in their tune-up game against Meralco Bolts last Tuesday.

The Dyip crammed in searching for a replacement for Edwards but luckily for them, Hester was available and also excited to return to Asia’s first play-for-pay league.

"I'm super excited to be joining the squad," Hester wrote via Messenger to PBA.ph. "This was my first home in the PBA, but I'm not yet in the Philippines and will be there, soon."

Hester first saw action with Terrafirma Dyip three years ago in the same conference where he averaged 28.1 points and 12.6 rebounds per game.

He returned to the PBA the following season for another Governors’ Cup campaign when he replaced Eric McCree as Magnolia Hotshots reinforcement.

With Magnolia, Hester averaged 27.8 and 15.7 rebounds in eight games and led the team to the quarterfinals as the fifth seeded squad but lost to the twice-to-beat Meralco Bolts in overtime, 113-107.

Hester will join newly acquired Dyip players and former BPC winners, Christian Hardinger and Stanley Pringle to form Terrafirma’s “Big Three” that could be a vital piece to have another playoff run.

Ateneo de Manila University’s Paolo Medina made history by winning the first-ever event title in UAAP esports in what was a thrilling basketball esports showdown against its perennial rival.

Medina won in a stunning three-game series of NBA 2K24  against De La Salle University’s Kegan Yap, 2-1, at the Doreen Fernandez Black Box, Areté Ateneo, in Quezon City Thursday night.

“To be the first champion, I am very blessed. I feel I made a mark that will forever be there. I am grateful for this opportunity,” said Medina, a 22-year-old BS Information Technology student.

Medina kicked off the Blue Eagles’ campaign by utilizing the San Antonio Spurs to defeat Yap’s Chicago Bulls pick, 77-75. Yap rebounded in Game 2 with his LA Clippers pick to nab a 93-89 victory and force a decider.

Game 3 saw Medina pull off an Oklahoma City Thunder pick to upend Yap’s Los Angeles Lakers pick, ending the first quarter of the decider game with a 10-point lead, 25-15. This cushion allowed Medina to cruise-control the entire decider match, with the lead growing to as much as 20 by the start of the 4th quarter.

Ateneo’s dominance in the UAAP NBA 2K24 category was not smooth sailing at first. Medina entered the semis as Pool A’s second seed, which saw him defeat University of Santo Tomas’ Daemiel Argame in the semis in dominant fashion, 96-92 and 119-81.

"Not gonna lie, coming into the tournament, I felt very confident. But then, on the first day of the group stage, I lost my game against UST, and then later that same day, I lost against UP. So, it wasn't a cakewalk. It wasn't an easy path to the finals," Medina told the UAAP Esports media.

Ateneo Blue Eagles head coach Nite Alparas expressed immense pride in Medina's performance throughout the UAAP Esports tournament.

"Honestly, sa six months na nag-training kami, parang two months ago sinabi ko sa kanya na, 'We are 100-percent ready to compete sa UAAP.' Nangyari nga, nag-champion kami," said Alparas.

"Sobrang confident ako kay Paolo kase simula February nakita ko siya. Nakita ko yung growth niya, development niya as a player. Sabi ko, 'Pagaling ka nang pagaling. Nagi-improve ka, lahat ng sinasabi ko sa'yo naa-absorb mo. Tina-try mo yung new things. Hindi ka takot magkamali,” he added.

Gilias Pilipinas moved four spots higher than its previous FIBA world rankings.

The Philippine men’s national basketball team jumped from rank No. 38 to No. 34 following its success during the Olympic Qualifying Tournament last July where they upset the host team and world’s No. 6 Latvia.

The Philippines and Japan were the only teams who made a leap in Asia's Top 10. The other Asian squads dropped from one to three rankings from their previous positions.

Japan moved up from No. 26 to No. 21 in the world rankings following their Paris Olympics stint.

Meanwhile, the other Asian Top 10 who went down from their rankings were No. 7 Australia (-2), No. 22 New Zealand (-1), No. 28 Iran (-1), No. 29 Lebanon (-1), No. 30 China (-1), No. 35 Jordan (-3), No. 53 South Korea (-3), and No. 56 Saudi Arabia (-3).

Overall, Team USA still holds the No. 1 position while the former No. 4 Serbia took the second spot after its gritty Olympic stint.

Germany remained at No. 3 while Olympic host France jumped five spots to become the world’s No. 4 ranked team.

Canada went two spots up to get the No. 5 position while Spain fell four places from its previous No. 2 to No. 6.

Asia’s top ranked team Australia got the No. 7 spot while Argentina stayed at No.8.

Gilas’ OQT victim, Latvia went three spots down to be ranked as No. 9 followed by Lithuania to complete the top 10 in the world.

Tough battles await Gilas Pilipinas Women when they face the best teams in the world for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifying Tournaments in Kigali, Rwanda slated from August 19 to 25.

As part of their preparation, the Filipina cagers held a training camp in Baguio in which they competed against high school boys.

“It has been great, especially our Baguio training camp. There was team bonding and we prepared well,” said coach Patrick Aquino, who steered the team to a fourth-place finish with a 2-3 record in the William Jones Cup in Taipei last July.

“We learned a lot and we were able to spot our mistakes so we are trying to improve on that,” he added.

Set to see action for Gilas are veterans Jack Animam and Afril Bernardino as well as Naomi Panganiban, Gabbi Ramos, and University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 Rookie of the Year Kacey Dela Rosa.

They will face No. 8 Brazil, No. 16 Hungary, and No. 25 Senegal in Group C.

TNT “Kobe” returns to defend title

Just days before the opening day of the Philippine Basketball Association 49th Season, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson officially returned to the TNT Tropang Giga to defend their Governor’s Cup title.

Hollis-Jefferson will replace Darius Days as TNT’s import.

Rondae was the original choice of TNT as he’s the one who led them to the promised land last year. But he’s not yet available until yesterday (August 14), that's why the team tapped the services of Darius Days.

In the official roster line-up of teams released last night, Rondae Hollis Jefferson is the import listed for TNT Tropang Giga.

With the return of RHJ, the TNT got a big boost as he already know the system of the team and the fans will have another chance to watch the “Kobe look-alike” import.

The Meralco Bolts and Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots will be the first game of the PBA’s 49th season that will open on Sunday, August 18 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Coming off their first championship in the last Philippine Cup, the Meralco Bolts will face the Hotshots in the lone opening game of the Governors’ Cup at 7:30 p.m.

But before the tip-off, there will be an opening ceremony scheduled at 5 p.m. at the end of the 48th Season Awards where the top performers from last season will be honored including the announcement of the Most Valuable Player. The awarding is set at 4 p.m.

The one game to be played on the opening night will be Meralco’s import Allen Durham return game, after four years. He is looking to finally win a chip in the import-laden tournament.

On the other hand, Magnolia will parade former NBA Slam Dunk Champion, Glenn Robinson III to be their reinforcement.

It will be a busy timetable for the Philippine Basketball Association when it opens the 49th Season this Sunday, August 18 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

In the season-opener Governors’ Cup, the league will have six playing dates for at least a month as they pave the way for two major international events that the PBA will play a major part.

The first one will be the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers while the second one will be the participation of San Miguel and Meralco in the East Asia Super League (EASL) that features a home-and-away format for the second season.

PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial said, "Magiging six times a week na tayo because of Gilas and EASL (We will have six times a week schedule because of Gilas and EASL).”

Game schedule will still have double-headers from Tuesday-Sunday, with Monday being the rest day for the PBA.

The first game will start at 5 p.m. while the main game will be scheduled at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday schedule might vary if there’s an out of town game. It will be set to kick off at 6 p.m.

Marcial also clarified that the six days a week playing dates will only be good for at least a month. 

"Yung six days a week kung hindi ako nagkakamali isang buwan lang naman, tapos balik ulit tayo sa dati (The six days a week  will only last for a month if I am not mistaken. After that, we will go back to the regular schedule)," said the commissioner.

The games will only be held on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday come playoffs time.

Stephen Curry waxed hot in the Olympics men’s basketball tournament finals tallying 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting from behind the arc to lead Team USA in capturing the gold medal.

The Americans became the Olympic champions for the fifth consecutive time after weathering the 26-point effort of France’s 20-year-old phenom Victor Wembanyama to grind out a 98-87 over the host team on Sunday early morning (PH time) at the Bercy Arena in Paris.

Curry’s 24-point explosion included the four 3-pointers he made in the final 2:43 of play with one sealing the game with 1:19 remaining. It put the Americans up by 93-84. He also put the final nail in the coffin by draining one more with 30 seconds left - with his signature “night night” move where he puts his hands on the side of his face.

“For me to get a gold medal is insane, and I thank God for the opportunity to experience it,” Curry said.

The Americans have now won eight of the last nine Olympic titles in men’s basketball and 17 of 21 overall.

Les Bleus on the other hand failed to get their first Olympic gold after settling for silver once again just like in the 1948, 2000 and 2020 Summer Games. All their losses came at the hands of the United States.

The scores:

USA 93 - Curry 24, Durant 15, Booke 15, James 14, Davis 8, Edwards 8, Holiday 6, Embiid 4, Tatum 2, Adebayo 2, White DNP, Haliburton DNP.

France 84 - Wembanyama 26, Yabusele 20, de Colo 12, Fournier 8, Coulibaly 6, Batum 5, Lessort 5, Strazel 3, Gobert 2, Ntilikina 0, Albicy 0, Cordinier 0.

Nikola Jokic’s triple-double led Serbia to win their first Olympic bronze medal in the men’s basketball tournament when they defeated the reigning FIBA World Cup champions Germany, 93-83.

Jokic scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished off 11 assists to secure the first bronze for their country in the Paris Games.

Vasile Micic backed-up Jokic with his 19 points, and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 markers.

Meanwhile, Germany was led by Franz Wagner with 19 points while Mortiz Wagner tallied 16.

The game was a rematch of the 2023 FIBA World Cup finals, which was won by Germany. But this time the Serbians showed their might in the hardcourt and even erected as much as 19-points in the third period, just enough cushion to secure the victory.

Germany made a late rally in the final canto and trimmed the lead to only eight but Serbia responded with an 11-4 run to push back the lead to double digits.

After winning the medal, Bogdan Bogdanovic said that Serbia was not concerned about repeating history from last year’s World Cup.

“We had more confidence. We know what Nikola is bringing to the table for us,” Bogdanovic said. “We continued to play team basketball. We continued to play our way. And we are unafraid. Our mindset, our mentality, we had a great tournament and we wanted to close it out with a win.”

After two years of waiting, the No. 2 overall pick in the Season 49 rookie draft Sedrick Barefield is now ready to take his act to the Philippine Basketball Association.

Barefield said that he is blessed to finally get going in Asia's first-ever play-for-pay league where he is expected to play a major role in Blackwater’s campaign in the 49th Season Governor’s Cup.

He also credited the Bossing head coach Jeffrey Cariaso and his wards for making the transition smooth for him.

"Coach Jeff is doing a great job for us, and I'm just super blessed and thankful to be getting ready for this season," Barefield said.

In 2022, the Filipino-American guard already applied for the PBA draft but didn’t make it to the final list as his camp failed to produce a hard copy of his Philippine passport.

This time, the 27-year-old Barefield made sure that all the documents he needed to be eligible to play in the league had been completed already.

The tune-up games have been helpful for the Bossing as they build chemistry and camaraderie during those exhibition match-ups where they have been perfect so far with 3-0 slate.

Barefield professional basketball career

Barefield played under NBA champion coach Larry Brown with the Midwestern State University (MSU) Mustangs in the NCAA before transferring later on to Utah.

He went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, but hooked up with the Oklahoma City Blue in the NBA G. League.

He also had stints with Lithuania, Greece, and Africa, and played briefly for the Bay Area Dragons in the East Asia Super League (EASL) and Taipei Fubon Braves in the P.League+.

With all the international accolades written in his basketball resume, Barefield is expected to help the Bossing get another opportunity to be in the PBA playoffs once again which they did two seasons ago as an eighth-seeded squad when the team was still under head coach Ariel Vanguardia.

Team USA stormed back from a potential upset against Serbia to return to the gold medal game in the Olympics men’s basketball tournament.

The Americans defeated the Serbians 95-91 at the Bercy Arena on Friday, August 9 (PH time), after bouncing back from a 17-point deficit.

Stephen Curry showcased his best of the tournament by producing 36 points on 9 of 14 shooting behind the arc while LeBron James recorded his second triple double in the Olympics (first player to do it in history) by scoring 16 points, grabbing 12 boards and dishing off 10 assists.

Entering the fourth period, the Serbians still have a 13-point cushion but Curry and James together with Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant showed their poise in the final canto where they went on a 14-2 run which turned an 84-77 deficit to a comfortable 91-86 lead with 1:41 remaining in the game.

A three-point play from Bogdan Bogdanovic and a short stab by Nikola Jokic got Serbia to within two, the last time at 93-91 with 8.2 seconds remaining but Curry iced the game with his two free throws to finally put the Serbians away.

Team USA will now have a finals rematch against host country France whom they also beat in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to win their fourth straight gold in the Summer Games.

The gold medal game will be scheduled at 3:30 a.m on August 11, Sunday (PH time).

On the other hand, Serbia will battle Germany for the bronze medal at 5:00 p.m on August 10, Saturday (PH time).

The scores:

USA 95 - Curry 36, Embiid 19, James 16, Durant 9, Booker 6, Davis 4, Holiday 3, Edwards 2, Adebayo 0, White 0, Haliburton DNP, Tatum DNP.

Serbia 91 - Bogdanovic 20, Jokic 17, Avramovic 15, Dobric 9, Petrusev 9, Guduric 9, Micic 8, Milutinov 4, Jovic 0, Marikonovic 0, Davidovac DNP, Uros DNP.