MERALCO lived to fight another day, needing three overtimes to complete a comeback from a 15-point deficit and defeat Phoenix Super LPG, 116-107, on Wednesday in the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Philsports Arena.
Allein Maliksi and Bong Quinto buried key shots in the third extra time as the backed-against-the-wall Bolts finally surged ahead after a long and grinding chase in a game where the Fuel Masters raced to an early 36-21 second-quarter lead.
Heroes were aplenty for the Bolts.
Chris Newsome put Meralco in a position to steal the win, burying a buzzer-beating three in regulation, but the fifth-seeded Bolts still needed another 15 minutes to arrange a sudden-death quarterfinal vs the twice-to-beat Fuel Masters.
The Bolts will play a rematch with the Fuel Masters on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena for the right to play in the semifinals.
Cliff Hodge had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Meralco, but turned to the other players after suffering an injury.
Quinto had 19 points including seven in the third overtime. He also drilled a three with 37.4 seconds left in the game for a 116-107 lead to seal the win.
Maliksi added 18 points including five in a 10-0 start in the third overtime.
Aaron Black also had 18 points, and scored with 23.5 seconds in the first overtime to tie the game at 95.
Meralco coach Luigi Trillo said there is still nothing to celebrate even with the win in the 14th third-overtime game in league history and first since the 2019 PBA Governors' Cup knockout quarterfinal game won by NorthPort over NLEX.
“Wala pa kaming ginagawa. It’s just one game. Kahit anong ginawa namin, Phoenix is a very resilient team,” said Trillo.
Johnathan Williams had 24 points after logging 62 minutes and 22 seconds in the game, but missed two crucial free throws in the 8.2-second mark of the second overtime that would have given Phoenix the lead.
Tyler Tio had 20 points including eight in the overtime periods, but his effort fell short.
The scores:
Meralco 116 – Hodge 20, Quinto 19, Black 18, Miller 18, Maliksi 18, Newsome 16, Banchero 5, Almazan 2, Caram 0, Rios 0, Pascual 0.
Phoenix Super LPG 107 – Williams 24, Perkins 20, Tio 20, Tuffin 16, Jazul 13, Mocon 6, Alejandro 6, Manganti 2, Muyang 0, Garcia 0, Rivero 0.
Quarters: 13-21; 39-47; 53-62; 84-84; 95-95; 103-103; 116-107.
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