An opening blitz paved way for the Meralco Bolts to get back on the winning track after a week-long break in the 2016 PBA Governor’s Cup after a wire-to-wire 109-102 win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at the Smart Araneta Coliseum early Wednesday evening.
Durham poured in 32 points, 12 rebounds and five assists on a 13-for-23 clip from the floor. He commended the team for a productive week in practice that led to a win after two setbacks.
“We got a good team practice. We got the win tonight, we kind of let them get back. They’re never out of the game but good thing we had time on our side.” he said.
The Bolts raced to a 16-0 start in the game that dictated momentum for Meralco throughout the match. They further increased the lead to 26 points in the third frame at 93-67, as their defense limited Rain or Shine in making stops to trim the lead.
Meralco’s attempt to protect the paint against the Painters’ Dior Lowhorn forced the Painters to take perimeter shots. However, shots were not just falling for the Elasto Painters that ended with a 6-for-30 (20 percent) from beyond-the-arc. The Bolts saw their lead evaporate slowly in the final four minutes of the game, but time was on their side in garbage time.
Meralco dominated majority of this game’s numbers, highlighted by a 55 percent clip for the entire match compared to Rain or Shine’s 44 percent mark. They also had more points off transition, 19-10.
For coach Norman Black, the fast start was due to his team’s relentless aggressiveness to pace the game from the get go. Moreover, he pointed out the level of confidence his import has in the tournament so far despite sporting a mask for his nose injury.
“Our aggressiveness made our defense pretty solid from the start. Fortunately, we had a big lead enough to hold on the game,” Black said.
“We changed his(Durham) mask to clear to black and it’s more on the fact that it’s been weeks already and he’s not sensitive anymore. His nose is actually healing and it did not require surgery.”
Meralco also had a balanced contribution from their locals with Chris Newsome and Brian Faundo scattering 12 points apiece. For Rain or Shine, Dior Lowhorn tallied 25 markers and eight rebounds. Jericho Cruz added 15 points off the bench.
Rain or Shine (2-1) snaps its two-game win streak and looks to bounce back versus the Alaska Aces (1-3). On the other hand, Meralco (3-2) will battle the cellar-dealing GlobalPort Batang Pier (0-4) next. The games will be played on August 12 and 13 at the Big Dome and Mall of Asia Arena respectively.
The Scores:
Meralco (109) – Durham 32, Newsome 12, Faundo 12, Hodge 11, Amer 10, Dillinger 10, Alapag 9, Hugnatan 7, Uyloan 4, Nabong 2, Jamshidi 0.
Rain or Shine (102) – Lowhorn 25, Cruz 15, Quinahan 13, Ahanmisi 11, Norwood 9, Lee 8, Almazan 5, Chan 5, Trollano 4, Belga 3, Ponferada 0.
Quarterscores: 35-21, 55-47, 85-74, 109-102
