Meralco vented its frustration on Alaska, 93-81, to register its first win in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup, Wednesday evening at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center in Pampanga.
The Bolts were a far different team than the one that lost to Matthew Wright and Phoenix Super LPG last Monday, seizing control of the match early on before pulling away in the final frame for a successful bounce-back.
Allein Maliksi spearheaded the Orangemen’s well-deployed attack with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.
Baser Amer, who only had seven points versus the Fuel Masters, unloaded 15 points on top of three rebounds and three assists. Reynel Hugnatan had 13 points and eight boards, while Cliff Hodge added 11 markers.
“It’s a good feeling to get that win,” said Coach Norman Black. “It’s a little bit difficult if you’re losing in the bubble because you see everybody every bit of the day, see all the teams, see all the officials, and you really can’t get away from basketball given the atmosphere. I think it takes a little bit of the pressure off the players to get that first win.”
Ahead were the Bolts in the entire game, and the second quarter saw them turn on the jets as they flipped a slim five-point lead early to a wide 46-29 advantage following a Maliksi bucket with 2:26 on the clock.
But the Aces still gave them a major scare especially in the third canto, when they uncorked a 17-3 spurt to erase a 14-point halftime deficit and tie things up at 52-all after Mike DiGregorio’s free throws with 4:38 left.
Quick, though, was Meralco in regaining the upper hand, and it opened the fourth quarter with 12 unanswered points towards a 77-58 lead with 9:26 left. They never looked back since and coasted to the win.
“Tonight we focused on what we feel is our identity, which is to defend against a pretty good Alaska team who played very very well against Talk N Text a couple of days ago,” said Black.
“But at the same time, I was just telling the players to do a very good job offensively, let’s control our boards, limit their offensive rebounds, and give ourselves a good chance of winning. That’s what the players did tonight.”
Jeron Teng had 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting alongside seven rebounds to lead Alaska, who fell to 0-2. Vic Manuel was the only other Ace to finish in double figures as he had 18 points on 21 attempts.
Meralco will next face Governors’ Cup rivals Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (1-0) on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 6;45 p.m., while Alaska looks to get its first win versus Magnolia on Saturday, Oct. 17, also at 6:45.
The Scores:
Meralco (93)- Maliksi 17, Amer 15, Hugnatan 13, Hodge 11, Black 8, Jose 6, Newsome 6, Quinto 5, Almazan 5, Pinto 5, Faundo 2
Alaska (81)- Teng 25, Manuel 18, Herndon 8, Publico 8, Tratter 6, DiGregorio 6, Brondial 5, Galliguez 3, Ayaay 2, Andrada 0, Casio 0, Ebona 0
Quarterscores: 29-23, 49-35, 65-58, 93-81.
