ANTIPOLO – Meralco tallied its second straight victory with an offensive outburst, cruising past Terrafirma, 107-95, on Thursday in the PBA Season 46 Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center.
Meralco vs Terrafirma recap
Tony Bishop and Allein Maliksi led the attack for the Bolts, raising their record to 6-1 and fortifying its bid to claim one of the four twice-to-beat incentives in the quarterfinals.
The Bolts pulled away in the second period after outscoring the Dyip, 30-19, with the first half ending with a buzzer-beating jumper by Anjo Caram for a 60-45 lead.
Bishop had 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Maliksi added 18 points. They combined for 23 points in the first half of the game that saw the Bolts leading by as many as 23.
Chris Newsome provided the highlight of the match, converting a dunk on a lob pass by Maliksi to hike its lead to 107-86 with 4:40 left in the fourth.
Meralco coach Norman Black said he urged his team to play consistently on the heels of their only defeat thus far this conference against NorthPort. Black also encouraged the Bolts to run the ball when the opportunity presents itself.
“Certainly, the loss to NorthPort was on our minds entering this game. We didn’t want to stumble again knowing that the elimination round is coming to an end and everybody is fighting for positions. We want to stay in the top four,” said Black.
“We didn’t want to fall today to the Terrafirma. We just want to come out and run as much as possible, play good defense, and get a win, and move on,” said Black.
Cliff Hodge had 16 points, while Quinto and Newsome added 11 and 10 apiece in Meralco’s second highest point total in the conference behind the 110 set against NLEX.
Antonio Hester had 23 points and 17 rebounds for the Dyip, who slipped to 2-6.
Meralco goes up against Alaska on Saturday, while Terrafirma plays Barangay Ginebra on Sunday.
The scores:
Meralco 107 – Bishop 26, Maliksi 18, Hodge 16, Quinto 11, Newsome 10, Black 8, Almazan 7, Banchero 6, Caram 5, Jose 0, Canete 0, Pasaol 0, Baclao 0.
Terrafirma 95 – Hester 23, Munzon 17, Tiongson 13, Daquiaog 11, Camson 10, Cahilig 6, Gabayni 5, Pascual 3, Batiller 3, Calvo 2, Ramos 2, Ramos 2, Go 0, Balagasay 0, Celda 0
Quarters: 30-26; 60-45; 89-73; 107-95.
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