MERALCO got a huge scare from Terrafirma before pulling off a 109-102 grindout win in Friday night's PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Bolts had to put together an 8-0 run entering the homestretch to finally take the fight out of the pesky Dyip side.
Meralco finished the eliminations with an 8-3 record in a tie with San Miguel for third to fourth places and kept its slim hopes alive of gaining a twice-to-beat edge in the playoffs.
Now the Bolts hope for a Barangay Ginebra (7-3) loss against NLEX (4-6) on Saturday in Legaspi, Albay to secure that coveted twice-to-beat edge.
A Ginebra win would relegate Meralco at no. 5 in the quarterfinals.
“Wala sa kamay namin ang makasama sa Top 4. Pero ginawa namin yung best namin para makuha yung panalo ngayon as a team,” said guard Bong Quinto, who scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, and had nine assists and five rebounds.
The Bolts really had to do their best to get the win against a Terrafirma side that refused to go away despite import Thomas De Thaey sitting on the bench for almost the entire second half.
Behind rookie Stephen Holt, Juami Tiongson, and Javi Gomez de Liano, the Dyip engaged the Bolts in a mano-a-mano encounter, and even took a 94-88 lead with the fourth quarter already two minutes underway.
But the Bolts caught up with the Dyip and regain the lead at 98-97 on a Shonn Miller dunk, before Tiongson tied the game for the last time with a split from the foul line in the final five minutes.
That’s when Cliff Hodge, Allein Maliksi, and Miller strung up eight unanswered points to put Meralco finally in control, 106-98.
Meralco got huge numbers from Miller with 29 points and 21 rebounds, Maliksi added 15 and Hodge with 11 points including seven in the fourth quarter.
The Dyip lost for the eighth straight game and finished their campaign at 2-9 despite getting a conference-high from Holt with 26 points, spiked by a 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
Tiongson added 21 and de Liano with 15.
The scores
Meralco (109) - Miller 29, Quinto 20, Maliksi 15, Newsome 11, Hodge 11, Banchero 10, Black 7, Almazan 4, Bates 2, Rios 0, Caram 0, Pascual 0.
Terrafirma (102) - Holt 26, Tiongson 21, Gomez de Liano 15, De Thaey 7, Alolino 7, Sangalang 5, Calvo 5, Ramos 5, Go 3, Olivario 2, Cahilig 2, Mina 2, Camson 2, Miller 0.
Quarterscores: 30-31; 59-54; 85-87; 109-102.
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