MERALCO limited Magnolia its fewest points in franchise history enroute to a 74-51 victory Sunday in the PBA 48th Season Philippine Cup at the Philsports Arena on Sunday.
The Bolts set the tone early by giving up only 21 points in the first half -- 14 points in the first quarter and seven in the second quarter -- as the Hotshots, deemed a title contender at the start of the conference, are showing vulnerabilty going into the last few games of the conference.
In its last game, Magnolia was beaten by sister team San Miguel, 98-91, and following Sunday's loss, the Hotshots' record dipped to 5-4, placing them in a tie for fourth spot.
The Bolts, on the other hand, improved to 5-5, tied at sixth place with Rain or Shine and Terrafirma in the standings.
Raymond Almazan and Chris Newsome scored 12 points each to lead Meralco's drive, with Almazon grabbing 11 rebounds.
Magnolia was missing the services of Jio Jalalon and Calvin Abueva.
Magnolia's previous low was the 53 it made last May 22, 2005 against Sta. Lucia.
Magnolia's offense was so atrocious that no one from the team scored in double figures. The team averaged 25.4 percent in field goals.
Meralco led from start to finish in dealing Magnolia its fourth defeat in nine outings.
“I think it was a bit of two things,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo. “In the first half, 21 points lang sila. We played good defensively, guys were on point. Not to take anything away from us, we played well defensively but they didn’t have Jalalon and Abueva. Those two are big to them."
Newsome saw action for Meralco after he got hurt in their previous game against Phoenix.
It was not a totally perfect night for Meralco.
Aaron Black sustained an injury at the 10:09-mark of the third quarter and was carried by his teammates to the dugout. He did not return and there was no word on what injury he sustained..
Ian Sangalang had eight points and 10 rebounds for Magnolia, while Aris Dionisio, James Laput, and Paul Lee chipped in six apiece.
Meralco will close the elimination round against San Miguel on Saturday at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Magnolia will try to arrest its two-game slide when it goes up against Terrafirma on Friday at the Philsports Arena.
The scores:
Meralco 74 – Newsome 12, Almazan 12, Banchero 11, Bates 10, Caram 9, Quinto 6, Maliksi 4, Black 3, Dario 3, Hodge 2, Pascual 2, Pasaol 0, Torres 0.
Magnolia 51 – Sangalang 8, Lee 6, Laput 6, Dionisio 6, Barroca 5, Dela Rosa 5, Tratter 4, Balanza 4, Corpuz 2, Eriobu 2, Escoto 0, Mendoza 1, Reavis 0.
Quarters: 21-14; 35-21; 56-34; 74-51.
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