MERALCO moved one win away from advancing to the semifinals of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup after defeating Barangay Ginebra, 93-82, on Sunday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Aaron Black and Chris Newsome spearheaded the surprisingly easy win for the Bolts, who are on the verge of eliminating a team that had given them so much heartache in the playoffs.
With a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three quarterfinal playoff, fifth-seeded Meralco can oust its nemesis on Friday in Game Two at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
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The Bolts led by as many as 21 points on their way to the win under assistant coach Luigi Trillo, who has been on a roll while head coach Norman Black remains in the US after the death of his mother.
The Bolts have now won five of the six games that Trillo has coached, including two against Ginebra.
Trillo, however, was quick to play down the win.
“We know we are going up against a champion team. It is just one game. We need one more game,” said Trillo.
Black hit a career-high tying 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, while Newsome had 19 points along with nine rebounds, and six assists.
Newsome scored 10 right in the first period, where he led a 13-4 windup that gave the Bolts a 32-25 lead.
Allein Maliksi tallied 17 points and Cliff Hodge added 10 points and five rebounds for Meralco, which opened as much as a 91-70 lead on a slam by Bong Quinto with 7:57 left in the game.
Scottie Thompson had a game-high 29 points to go with 10 rebounds while Christian Standhardinger added 12 points. But Stanley Pringle only had six points on 2-of-8 shooting and LA Tenorio ended up scoreless after missing all his five shots.
Activated in time for the playoffs, Jeremiah Grey did not see action for Ginebra on Sunday.
The scores:
Meralco 93 – Black 25, Newsome 19, Maliksi 17, Hodge 10, Quinto 9, Almazan 5, Banchero 4, Pascual 4, Johnson 0, Hugnatan 0, Pasaol 0.
Barangay Ginebra 82 – Thompson 29, Standhardinger 12, Chan 11, J. Aguilar 10, Pinto 8, Pringle 6, Mariano 5, Onwubere 1, Tenorio 0, David 0.
Quarters: 32-25; 53-43; 80-62; 93-82.
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