MERALCO picked up its first win in the PBA Philippine Cup bubble at the expense of a lackluster Alaska side, 93-81, on Wednesday at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena and Cultural Center.
Allein Maliksi and Baser Amer atoned for their poor form in an opening loss to Phoenix while veteran Reynel Hugnatan continued his consistent play as the Bolts handed the Aces a second successive defeat.
“It’s a good feeling to get that win,” said Meralco coach Norman Black. “It’s a little bit difficult if you are losing in the bubble because you see everybody every minute of the day. You see all the teams and you see all the officials so you can’t get away from basketball because of the atmosphere.”
“It takes a little bit of the pressure off the players to get that first win and gives us a lot of confidence going into our game on Sunday against Ginebra,” said Black.

Maliksi scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, while Amer had 15 points including eight in the fourth quarter that put the game away for the Bolts.
Hugnatan added 13 points and eight rebounds while holding the fort in the center position with Raymond Almazan playing limited minutes.
Black, however, gave a bigger credit to a defense that held all but two Alaska players - Jeron Teng and Vic Manuel - to single digits.
“It was really nice to see the guys play defense tonight unlike a couple of days ago against Phoenix when we pretty much played with no defense,” said Black.
"We were really focused on our identity, which is to play defense," he added.

Hugnatan already had 10 points by the first quarter as the Bolts grabbed a 49-35 halftime lead. Alaska was able to bring down the deficit to two points, 49-47, but Maliksi buried a three to help Meralco gain a 65-58 advantage at the end of the third.
The Bolts pulled away to start the fourth with Maliksi, Amer, and Aaron Black taking charge with critical baskets. Amer scored five straight including a triple to increase Meralco’s lead to 82-68.
“Baser made some big baskets for us when they were challenging us in the end. I think he made five points in a row to stop their momentum which was really, really big,” said Black.
Teng and Manuel had 25 and 18 points, respectively, for the Aces.
The scores:
Meralco 93 – Maliksi 17, Amer 15, Hugnatan 13, Hodge 11, Black 8, Jose 6, Newsome 6, Pinto 6, Quinto 5, Almazan 5, Faundo 2.
Alaska 81 – Teng 25, Manuel 18, Herndon 8, Publico 8, Tratter 6, DiGregorio 6, Brondial 5, Galliguez 3, Ayaay 2, Ebona 0, Andrada 0, Casio 0.
Quarters: 29-23; 49-35; 65-58; 93-81.
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