In an all-important duel and with emotions running high, import Andre Emmett stood tall and played with nerves of steel to help the Meralco Bolts emerge victorious over the Barangay Ginebra Kings Sunday.
With the game still on the line in the crucial moments of the fourth period, Emmett scored on two contested shots against Ginebra’s bigs to push the Bolts ahead. In another play he secured possession for the Bolts, rushed towards frontcourt for the fastbreak attempt before getting fouled.
A split from the line made it 102-99 for the Bolts as Emmett scored the final 5 points for Meralco, in a match that tested his character.
“It was a whole lot of heart and passion. Teamwork and fighting together. When you have all of that combined, you got to win,” the prolific-scoring import said, praising his teammates for keeping their focus in the match until the end.
An altercation occured in the second half when Dave Marcelo and Jared Dillinger’s arms got entangled after a shooting foul from the former. Sol Mercado came in defense of Marcelo and appeared to have shoved Dillinger, while the latter clung on to Mercado’s nape. Seconds later, Gary David shoved Mercado from behind.
Through it all, the Bolts weathered the intensity of both the game and playing against the crowd. Emmett added it was how Meralco fought that gave them the win.
“These guys did a great job with the scouting report and the team bought the game plan and fought for 48 minutes.”
The Meralco reinforcement topscored with 34 points and grabbed four rebounds in the victory that pushed the Bolts’ record to 5-4, good enough for fifth in the Governors’ Cup team standings.
“Coach emphasized how important this game was and our guys stepped up. There were moments where we fell out but we kept fighting and fighting until there was zero on the clock, and we came up winning.”
Photos courtesy of PBA Images
