ANTIPOLO - Red-hot Meralco buried Converge in a hail of threes to score a wire-to-wire 105-99 win and clinch a berth in the PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals Sunday.
Import Zach Lofton, Chris Banchero, and Allein Maliksi sparked the Bolts' fiery shooting from beyond the arc where they converted 17-of-45 of their shots on the way to the one-sided win.
Not even a late Converge charge from 29 points down to threaten at 103-97 was enough to deny Meralco a fourth straight win and improve at 6-1 for a tie with Phoenix at second place.
Import Zach Lofton was his usual explosive self and finished with 30 points spiked by five three pointers.
“At least we’re already there in the quarters. But now we have a chance to get to the Top 2,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo, whose team is likewise coming off a rousing 97-88 overtime win over Ryukyu Golden Kings in the EASL Home and Away season at the Studio City Event Center in Macau.
Chris Banchero finished with 21 points and was 5-of-7 from three-point range, while Allein Maliksi, playing just in his second game back from a nasal fracture, had 20 including four triples, while adding seven rebounds.
Converge fell by as many as 70-41 late in the third period, but made a late fight back behind Alec Stockton, Justin Arana, and Jeo Ambohot to make it an eight-point contest inside the final two minutes.
But time was not on the side of the FiberXers as they suffered their seventh loss in eight outings to share the cellar with idle Blackwater.
Arana, last season’s Rookie of the Year, finished with a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Stockton had 21 spiked by a 3-of-5 shooting from downtown.
Import Jamil Wilson was held to just 13 points on 4-of-18 shooting from the floor and 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. But he had 11 rebounds and six assists.
The scores
Meralco (105) -- Lofton 30, Banchero 21, Maliksi 20, Quinto 13, Newsome 11, Black 4, Rios 3, Pascual 3, Almazan 0, Torres 0, Bates 0.
Converge (99) -- Arana 25, Stockton 21, Wilson 13, Balanza 11, Winston 10, Ambohot 6, Santos 5, Racal 4, Nieto 2, Melecio 2, Delos Santos 0.
Quarterscores: 27-18; 55-37; 80-61; 105-99.
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