MERALCO kept Terrafirma winless in the PBA 47th Season Philippine Cup after dealing the Dyip a 105-89 beating on Thursday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Meralco vs Terrafirma recap
Chris Newsome scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half of a game the Bolts so dominated that the only time they trailed was after the Dyiphit the first point of the contest.
Meralco finished the eliminations with a 7-4 win-loss record while condemning Terrafirma to a 0-11 slate, similar to the humiliation Blackwater suffered in the last Philippine Cup.
The victory also enabled the Bolts to enter the quarterfinals either as the fourth or fifth seed.
The Bolts also won their fourth game without head coach Norman Black, with Luigi Trillo serving as the stand-in coach.
In contrast to the final score, Trillo said it was a difficult game to win.
“They came to play. I thought we were trying our best but they didn’t play with panic, they were moving the ball, they were sharing the load, and it was a tough game. We had earn it and bring back some of our starters to play. The important thing is we did the job done,” said Trillo.
Aaron Black dropped 16 points, while Raymond Almazan had a near double-double as he finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for Meralco.
Aldrech Ramos had 24 points for the woeful Dyip, who trailed by as many as 19 points in the match.
The scores:
Meralco 105 – Newsome 19, Black 16, Almazan 14, Maliksi 14, Quinto 13, Caram 7, Pascual 6, Banchero 4, Hodge 4, Jose 4, Hugnatan 2, Pasaol 2, Belo 0, Johnson 0, Baclao 0.
Terrafirma 89 – Ramos 24, Camson 14, Cahilig 13, Munzon 13, Gabayni 9, Calvo 5, Gomez De Liano 5, Tumalip 2, Javelona 2, Mina 2, Balagasay 0.
Quarters: 27-16; 52-41; 73-65; 105-89.
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