That's a lot of points from the imports—112 of 'em!
The Terrafirma Dyip and the Blackwater Bossing, perhaps surprisingly, provided plenty of excitement and lots of firepower in their game Thursday night.
That’s mostly thanks to their imports—Jordan Williams for Terrafirma and newcomer Troy Williams for the Bossing—who torched the Smart-Araneta Coliseum nets for 57 and 55 points, respectively. The Williamses’ explosion, incidentally, happened just after a fire hit a nearby venue, causing a power outage at the arena that delayed the game for several minutes.
In the end, it was Jordan who got the last laugh, scoring 22 fourth quarter points to help the Dyip hold off the hard-charging Bossing. The European League journeyman added 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks as he continued to repay the trust given him by the Terrafirma coaching staff and his teammates.
“They’re trusting me to be a leader out there and take over when it’s time to finish the game, so shout out to my teammates for trusting me and believing in me,” Jordan said post-game.
The other Williams, who replaced original Bossing import Shawn Glover, was no pushover either as he nearly brought the Bossing all the way back from an 18-point deficit. He did much of his damage by just attacking the rim, where he either got fouled or made tough shots or both. In fact, he could easily have had at least 60 in his debut if he did not miss 11 of his 32 free throws.
The Dyip, it seems, knew exactly what Troy could bring to the table given his NBA pedigree. Jordan, in particular, appeared ready for the challenge.
“I knew coming in he [Troy Williams] was gonna be aggressive… and like coach [Johnedel Cardel] said, he’s an ex-NBA player, so, of course, he knows what he’s doing out there,” Jordan pointed out. “Myself, I just have confidence every time I step on the court, I feel like I can play with anybody, so I wasn’t worried about the game today. I felt we were gonna win.”
The Dyip won, all right, and that’s in part due to Jordan winning the battle of the Williamses.