ANTIPOLO – Reynel Hugnatan led Meralco’s fightback from 16 points down to beat Phoenix Super LPG, 109-98, on Saturday in the PBA Season 47 Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center.
Meralco vs Phoenix recap
The 43-year-old Hugnatan fired 10 of his 17 points in the third period that saw the Bolts come back from a 77-61 deficit, en route to the win in their first game of the season.
Chris Newsome also had a huge outing with 11 of his 21 points in the final period, while Aaron Black had 19 points in the Meralco win.
“When I put Reynel in the game, the team responded very, very well,” said Meralco coach Norman Black. “We started being able to take care of match-ups. Because we took advantage of those match-ups, it put a lot of pressure on their defense.”
Allein Maliksi had 15 points, while Raymond Almazan and Bong Quinto had 12 apiece for the Bolts but saw Quinto sent off in the fourth after handing the ball to the direction of a referee.
Newsome enabled Meralco to pull away after scoring eight straight points for his team to grab a 101-92 lead after protecting a 93-91 advantage. Hugnatan nailed a three to increase the gap to 12 with 3:10 left, the first time Meralco held a double-digit advantage in the contest.
The Fuel Masters fell to 0-2 despite the 28-point effort of Jason Perkins. Matthew Wright had 16 for Phoenix.
The scores:
Meralco 109 – Newsome 21, Black 19, Hugnatan 17, Maliksi 15, Quinto 12, Almazan 12, Hodge 5, Banchero 4, Caram 4, Pasaol 0, Jose 0, Pascual 0, Baclao 0.
Phoenix 98 – Perkins 28, Wright 16, Jazul 13, Mocon 10, Tio 9, Serrano 7, Garcia 6, Lalata 4, Rios 3, Melecio 2, Muyang 0, Jazul 0.
Quarterscores: 23-23; 45-51; 75-79; 109-98.
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