ANTIPOLO – Meralco coach Norman Black lauded Allen Durham’s hunger to win Game Four of the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals on Saturday night.
Durham carried the load for Meralco in its 95-83 win over TNT, with the import scoring 36 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in the contest. His performance allowed the Bolts to force a do-or-die battle for the finals spot on Monday at the Ynares Center.
“He was pretty hungry tonight,” said Black of Durham. “He’s been doing that the entire conference for us. He is the main reason we are in the situation we are in now.”
Durham had 14 points in the third quarter to help the Bolts sustain the lead which they were able to secure after trailing by as many as 13 points in the first quarter. It was more of the same in the fourth when the Bolts went to Durham at the post to get nine in the quarter.
Durham though said it wasn’t just him who was hungry to win Game Four.
“Everybody was hungry. We got deflections, we got tips, we got steals in key moments of the game. That’s just showing everybody is hungry to win and get back to where we want to go,” said Durham.
With his play on Saturday, Durham somewhat made up for his boo-boo in Game Three when he issued a pass to Cliff Hodge late in the match, only to learn that Hodge wasn’t actually part of the match.
“I’m happy that we had a good game and kinda put that behind me. Hopefully, you guys put that behind you (reporters) because it’s kinda embarrassing,” said Durham with a smile.
“But I’m happy for the win and we’re going to look forward for Game Five,” the Meralco import added.
Durham said the entire team did a good job of controlling TNT’s pick-and-roll, while holding key players such as Troy Rosario on offense. Rosario had 15 points on Saturday, but was still 10 points shy of his Game Three output.
“I’m proud of them. We knew TNT was going to try to hit us with their knockout punch. We knew we had to weather the storm. Not only weather the storm but send our own punches as well. Our guys did it. I’m proud of them and we have to do the same on Monday,” said Durham.
Thanks to Durham’s performance, the Bolts will play a Game Five at the Ynares Center, and with only a day to prepare, Black said he will do everything to have his import well-rested for the important match.
“I’ve got to manage his time in the next day and a half to make sure that he shows up back here in Antipolo with a lot of energy and ready to play,” said Black.
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