The Meralco Bolts came from behind and caught the San Miguel Beermen by surprise, 104-101, to clinch the top spot and the twice-to-beat edge for the 2017 Governor’s Cup playoffs, Sunday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
With the victory, the quarterfinal picture has finally been completed. The Top Four teams with the playoff incentive are the Bolts, TNT Katropa (2), Barangay Ginebra (3), and Star Hotshots (4), who are coming off a win versus NLEX earlier.
The Grand Slam-seeking Beermen, on the other hand, dropped down to as deep as the sixth place. Completing the playoff cast are the Road Warriors (5), Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (7), and Blackwater Elite (8).
“That was just a great second half for our team,” lauded coach Norman Black. “We tried to make some adjustments at halftime because we thought we played horrible basketball in the first half and we tried to implement adjustments.”
Allem Durham powered the Orangemen with 35 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists. Jared Dillinger provided 16 markers on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor, while Chris Newsome supplied 14 points, four caroms, and six dimes
The Bolts, once down by 18 in the third, were trailing by nine, 87-96, with 3:19 in the final frame. But they suddenly turned the tables around with a 13-2 spree — capped by Durham’s lay-up — to take the lead, 100-98, with 58.3 ticks to go.
Chris Ross’ trey lifted SMB once more, 101-100, with 40.4 seconds left, but Durham responded with a deuce — a putback of his own miss — on the other end 13 seconds later to lift the Orangemen ahead, 102-101.
From there, doom casted all over the Beermen. They had three chances to regain the upper hand, but their last shot, a one-hander from June Mar Fajardo off a broken play, badly went short. The Bolts then secured the sorry miss.
With no choice left, SMB sent Durham to the foul line to freeze the clock and hope for misses. But the American reinforcement obliged, sinking two pressure-packed freebies to complete the gallant retaliation.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win in the end-game, and we did,” added Black on the win. “The focus now is just to prepare for Blackwater because we know they’ve played very well this conference and have one of the best import.
“We have to be ready for them,” furthered Black, who steered Meralco to the finals last Governors’ Cup.
Baser Amer chipped in 13 markers for Meralco, whose win tonight over SMB marks their first-ever in the last six conferences.
Fajardo paced San Miguel with 26 points and eight rebounds. Terrence Watson and Marcio Lassiter each made 18 — with the former adding 10 boards. Alex Cabagnot made 16 points, eight caroms, and seven assists.
Both squads shot 48 percent from the floor, but the Bolts dished out more assists, 23-16. They also outrebounded San Miguel, 52-43. However, they committed 17 turnovers, which led to 19 points for the other team.
The Scores:
Meralco 104 – Durham 35, Dillinger 16, Newsome 14, Amer 13, Hodge 8, Tolomia 8, De Ocampo 6, Nabong 2, Hugnatan 2, Lanete 0.
San Miguel 101 – Fajardo 26, Lassiter 18, Watson 18, Cabagnot 16, Ross 10, Santos 6, Rosser 4, Espinas 3, Heruela 0.
Quarterscores: 19-32, 39-51, 69-81, 104-101.
