MERALCO reminded everybody it is still the reigning, defending PBA Philippine Cup champion.
The Bolts put a stop to the conference’s hottest win streak by downing the NLEX Road Warriors, 108-92, and returned to the .500 mark on Sunday night at the Philsports Arena.
Rookie CJ Cansino scored all of his 20 points in the second half, and four of Meralco's five starters finished in double figures including the returning Cliff Hodge as the Bolts won for the second straight time and evened their record at 5-5.
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The Meralco victory snapped NLEX’s six-game winning streak and kept the Road Warriors from becoming the second team to make the playoffs.
Newsome led the Bolts with 21 points, Bong Quinto was 3-of-4 from three-point range for 18 points, Banchero had 16 and six assists, and Hodge had 12, five rebounds, and four assists in his first game back from a one-game suspension.
“They’re (Road Warriors) playing at a high level. We just did better in the second half. I mean, all around, defensively doing the things we were supposed to. Offensively, I thought we shared the ball better,” stressed Meralco coach Luigi Trillo.
“This (NLEX) is a tough team and they’re on a six-game winning streak.”
It was a close game in the first half until Casino suddenly caught fire in the third quarter and teamed up with Newsome as they scored 17 of Meralco’s 32 points in the period to turn the game around for a 77-70 lead.
The Road Warriors battled their way back from a 16-point deficit to make it 87-97 with 3:47 left to play.
But a second technical foul called on Robert Bolick for resenting a call led to a free throw by Newsome, before Banchero hit his only three-pointer for the game to bring the lead back to 14.
Bolick led the 6-2 Bolts with 22 points and six assists, but was 5-of-18 from the floor.
Kevin Alas and JB Bahio each had 14, Javee Mocon with 12 and seven rebounds, while Dominic Fajardo added 11 before going down with a knee injury after attempting to block a shot by Cansino.
The scores:
Meralco (108) - Newsome 21, Cansino 20, Quinto 18, Banchero 16, Hodge 12, Black 8, Pasaol 7, Almazan 4, Jose 2, Caram 0, Bates 0.
NLEX (92) - Bolick 22, Bahio 14, Alas 14, Mocon 12, Fajardo 11, Ramirez 6, Nieto 5, Amer 3, Torres 3, Semerad 2, Valdez 0, Herndon 0.
Quarterscores: 21-18; 45-47; 77-70; 108-92.
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