Coach Norman Black lamented the poor shooting of the Meralco Bolts from the free throw line on Sunday evening, which ultimately led to a frustrating 99-106 loss at the hands of the now-number one team Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Meralco fought back from as much as 18 down in the third, but they missed eight straight free throws from 7:28 in the fourth quarter to 4:09 in the extra period. All in all, the Bolts shot 20-of-38 from the charity stripe.
“We had a lot of fight tonight. No question about that… We played with a lot of energy. The problem is we missed a lot of foul shots,” Black rued. “We missed 18 foul shots, that would have easily put the game away.
“It was tied 94-all, we missed eight straight free throws, which gave them the chance to stay in the game. We have to do a better job at making our free throws,” asserted the veteran bench strategist.
Sunday’s loss was Meralco’s second straight. Last Wednesday, the Bolts bowed to sister team TNT Katropa, who were already without hefty import Joshua Smith in the final 18 minutes due to a bleeding nose, 85-91.
The loss is harder to accept since it takes them out of twice-to-beat contention. After being in the running for the incentive, Meralco are currently fourth in the standings with a 7-4 card.
But even with the drop, Black still likes where his team is right now.
“Well, we’re probably guaranteed at least the fourth spot, the possibility of moving up to three, I guess,” said Black. “I’d rather be in the situation where we are now than whether we were going to make the playoffs or not.
“But at the same time, it is two straight losses. This one could have been avoided, if we had stepped up and made our free throws in the clutch.”
