MERALCO kicked off the PBA Philippine Cup Finals with a shock 93-86 win over defending champion San Miguel Beer on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Bolts trailed early on by 10 points, but turned the game around behind a huge 9-0 run capped by a Bong Quinto three-pointer to take a 53-51 lead.
It was a close contest from there.
But just when everybody thought the Bolts would blink in the homestretch against the mighty Beermen, the team proved to be as tough as nails and hit crucial baskets one after the other to pull off the opening upset.
Here are the takeaways in the series opener of the all-Filipino Cup title series:
BOLTS GAVE FAJARDO LOT OF DIFFERENT LOOKS
San Miguel main man June Mar Fajardo came through with his usual numbers of 23 points – on 7-of-10 shooting – and 10 rebounds, but faced different defenders at times as the Bolts alternated their bigs in giving the seven-time MVP different looks on defense. Raymond Almazan and rookie Brandon Bates alternated in guarding the 6-foot-10 center at the post, but Meralco also threw in Kyle Pascual and Norbert Torres to try and wear down the Cebuano giant. The ploy worked as Fajardo committed a team-high six turnovers, resulting in a -11 PM (Plus/Minus) stat.
CRUZ, TROLLANO PRESENCE HARDLY FELT
Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano usually come off the bench to supply additional firepower and hustle for San Miguel. And while they played major minutes in the series opener, the two hardly made their presence felt. Cruz only had five points (2-of-9), while Trollano finished with nine (3-of-8). Both Cruz (11.0) and Trollano (13.8) averaged in double figures for the Beermen heading to the finals. Trollano was even named PBA Press Corps Player of the Week after averaging 20.0 points in San Miguel’s last two wins over Rain or Shine during their four-game sweep of the semis.
MERALCO DEFENSE AT WORK
Despite the two-week break, San Miguel hardly showed any rust by scoring 51 points in the first half behind the combined 29 points of Fajardo, CJ Perez, and Marcio Lassiter. But the Bolts’ defense began to take its toll on the Beermen starting the second half where they were held to just 35 points, including only 14 in the fourth quarter. The 35 points was the lowest in any half for the top seeded San Miguel this conference, who are actually 12-0 when scoring at least by 100 points in the tournament.
THE ‘OTHER CHRIS’ SHINES FOR MERALCO
While Chris Newsome is the acknowledged heart and soul of Meralco, Chris Banchero has also been a consistent performer for the Bolts in the playoffs. The Fil-Italian guard picked up from where he left off in the team’s semifinals encounter with Barangay Ginebra as he and Newsome each had a team-high 18 points in the Game 1 win. Banchero scored six points in the pivotal fourth period, including a two-handed rebound tip-in inside the final two minutes that kept the pursuing Beermen at bay. The 35-year-old Banchero shot 8-of-16 from the field and had seven rebounds and five assists.
WILL TERRENCE PLAY FOR SMB?
In a close contest such as Game 1, Terrence Romeo could have made a difference for San Miguel with his 13.2 average and 44 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Romeo was in a Beermen jersey, but wasn’t fielded in due to a right calf strain. He sustained the injury during Game 4 of the semis series against Rain or Shine. Even after a two-week break, the injury hasn’t fully healed. The prolific shooting guard remains a question mark for the rest of the title series as he hasn’t been practicing with the team heading to the finals.
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