MERALCO got back to its winning ways, taking advantage of the early exit of NorthPort import Venky Jois for a 114-104 victory on Saturday in the PBA 49th Season Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Bolts recovered from their 108-99 loss to TNT to strengthen its hold of second place in Group A with a 6-2 win-loss record. The win also assured Meralco as well as idle TNT of places in the quarterfinals.
The Batang Pier fell to 3-5 for their second straight loss after Jois left the game in the 3:15-mark of the first quarter due to an ankle injury. He was taken out of the floor on a stretcher and was immediately brought to the hospital.
Allen Durham had 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Chris Newsome had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Bolts, who also welcomed Raymond Almazan and Cliff Hodge after coming off injuries and scored six and five respectively.
“We wish Venky Jois (a speedy recovery). He went down. We hope he gets better. We don’t know if it’s his Achilles,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo.
“For us, it’s nice to get some guys back in the mix. Obviously, you have the usual suspects like Chris and a couple of the other guys. We are starting to get guys back."
Chris Banchero added 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field after a 4-of-16 clip in the TNT game.
“I was really disappointed at myself against TNT. I really couldn’t sleep. I felt that I let the team down because that was a big game for us. I did struggle and I forced my shots. Today, I had to take a step back and take a little breath. But you never want to let your teammates down. It’s always good to have a bounce-back game,” said Banchero.
Arvin Tolentino had 28 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, while Joshua Munzon had 17 points and two steals for the struggling Batang Pier, whose loss could turn out to be a step back in their playoff bid.
The scores:
Meralco 114 – Durham 23, Newsome 20, Banchero 19, Cansino 12, Bates 12, Caram 10, Quinto 7, Almazan 6, Hodge 5, Pascual 0, Mendoza 0, Torres 0, Jose 0.
NorthPort 104 – Tolentino 28, Munzon 17, Cuntapay 12, Navarro 11, Yu 9, Flores 9, Amores 7, Jois 4, Bulanadi 4, Jalalon 3, Tratter 0, Onwubere 0, Nelle 0, Taha 0.
Quarters: 41-37; 67-59; 89-80; 114-104.
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