No Game Six magic for the defending champions
It was in some ways expected — the two bitter rivals will enter a sudden death match, as the Meralco Bolts live to fight another day, taking care of business in Game Six by defeating the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 98-91, Wednesday evening at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“The two days off did us a lot of good. It helped to revive our legs a little bit and give us energy,” said Bolts head coach Norman Black, “It was still really tough to beat Ginebra. You shouldn’t really be giving credit to the other team in the middle of the series but they’re well-coached, they play hard every game, and of course they have the crowd support so they never really get down.
“And you really have to fight every second just to beat them,” the legendary head coach admitted.
Allen Durham led the Orangemen with 28 points and 19 rebounds, but Reynel Hugnatan proved to be the X-factor once more as he unloaded 24 points, spiked by six triples, to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
The Bolts were in control right from the get-go, all thanks to a 12-4 start. Their lead eventually grew to as much as 20 points, 44-24, after Jared Dillinger’s contested acrobatic lay-up with 4:57 remaining in the second frame.
But the Gin Kings came back strong in the third quarter to trim the wide deficit. It was in the fourth chapter where they closed within grasp, 90-86, as Mark Caguioa converted a tough baseline jumper with 3:45 to go.
Ginebra had chances to cut Meralco’s lead further, but the latter had luck on their side, as they secured all their misses. Durham’s lay-up with 40.5 ticks left to play that made it 95-88 was enough to put the Barangay to sleep.
Garvo Lanete earned his first start for Meralco in the series and finished with 15 points on three treys. Chris Newsome, who also started playing the point, filled the stat sheet with 10 markers, seven caroms, and 11 dimes.
Justin Brownlee led the Gin Kings with 23 points and nine rebounds. Greg Slaughter scored 18 and collected six boards, while LA Tenorio and Scottie Thompson had 12 points apiece, with the latter adding eight assists.
Meralco had shot a series-high 45 percent from the floor, nailing 12 triples in the process. They also lorded over the rebounds, 51-41, and their defense forced Ginebra to 17 errors, which led to 25 points.
The deciding Game Seven will be on Friday, October 27, 7:00 PM still at the Philippine Arena.
The Scores:
Meralco (98) – Durham 28, Hugnatan 24, Lanete 15, Newsome 10, Dillinger 9, Hodge 6, Amer 6, Caram 0.
Ginebra (91) – Brownlee 23, Slaughter 18, Tenorio 12, Thompson 12, Devance 11, Aguilar 6, Caguioa 6, Ferrer 3, Taha 0.
Quarterscores: 29-17, 54-37, 75-69, 98-91.
