MERALCO went on a huge third-quarter tear to rip Northport, 109-99, and kick off a hectic PBA Governors’ Cup schedule this week on a winning note.
Import Allen Durham showed the way in that huge scoring stretch, knocking down 19 of his game-high 34 points in the third quarter where the Bolts pulled away from the Batang Pier for good.
The Bolts outscored the Batang Pier, 38-17, to break open a game that they led by just three at the break.
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Meralco won for the second straight game and improved to 3-1 in a tie with TNT on top of Group A.
The Bolts return to the court on Wednesday against Converge FiberXers, and then take on the Magnolia Hotshots in an out-of-town sortie in Panabo City over the weekend.
“I thought our third quarter was solid all around. We're a little bit choppy in the first, but I though that third quarter was enough for us to have that bigger lead,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo.
Durham, the three-time Best Import awardee, flirted with a triple double as he also had 16 rebounds, and nine assists for Meralco, which played minus veterans Allein Maliksi, and Raymond Almazan, along with Aaron Black, Norbert Torres, and Raymar Jose.
"Moving forward it's going to be a tough stretch for us," Trillo pointed out, noting the Bolts will have to play their next two games in the coming six days with another depleted roster.
Meralco also got huge contributions from Chris Banchero, who finished with 23 points, while Bong Quinto added 18.
Arvin Tolentino paced Northport with 21 points, three days after scoring a franchise-high 51 points. William Navarro and Joshua Munzon contributed 18 and 16, respectively for the Batang Pier who fell to an even 2-2 record as their two-game winning run was snapped.
Tolentino though, was no longer fielded in the final quarter along with import Venkie Jois, who was held to just six points and five rebounds.
The scores
Meralco (109) - Durham 34, Banchero 24, 23, Quinto 18, Caram 10, Newsome 8, Pasucal 6, Cansino 6, Rios 2, Mendoza 2, Bates 0, Hodge 0, Pasaol 0.
Northport (99) - Tolentino 21, Navarro 18, Munzon 16, Flores 8, Bulanadi 7, Jois 6, Amores 6, Cuntapay 6, Jalalon 5, Nelle 3, Yu 3, Tratter 0, Onwubere 0.
Quarterscores: 22-28, 52-49; 90-66; 109-99.
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