DASMARINAS – Meralco has become so used to playing against a pro-Ginebra crowd that playing in front of them no longer bothers the crew.
The Bolts got off to a roaring start and that proved to be enough to take down the Kings, 87-80, and take a 2-1 lead in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup nest-of-7 semifinals, Wednesday night at a packed Dasmarinas City Arena here.
Coach Luigi Trillo’s wards took a 31-18 lead in the first quarter and took control from there, even leading by as many as 17 late in the fourth that some of the Barangay fans already headed to the exits still with a few minutes to spare.
But the win was by no means easy. They had to overcome a late-game uprising by their long-time rivals, with the trio of Von Pessumal, LA Tenorio, and Nards Pinto pulling Ginebra to within five, 85-80, with 25 seconds left.
Luckily for the Bolts, the Kings could no longer convert afterward, and Jansen Rios would go on to seal the deal with a perfect trip to the line.
“There should be no letdown,” said Trillo post-game. “Alam natin Ginebra’s never say die, that’s always their mantra, you saw they didn’t give up. That’s good for them. On our side, that’s unacceptable. Kailangan handa sila roon.”
Allein Maliksi top-scored for Meralco with 16 points. Chris Newsome made 14 points, four rebounds, and six assists, plus a steal and a block.
Bong Quinto led the bench with 10 points for the Bolts, who will try to go up 3-1 in Game 4 on Friday, May 25, 4:30 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena.
But that is far from the minds of Trillo and Co., with all their attention focused on polishing lots of things after that wobbly endgame they had.
“We can’t have a letdown. And we know that they’re capable. Ginebra’s capable,” he said. “But, we’re capable too. We need to focus on this next day, get to the video, and continue to do it not one time but multiple times.”
Japeth Aguilar, meanwhile, top-scored for Ginebra with 15 points and nine rebounds in the loss. Maverick Ahanmisi backed him up with 13.
Christian Standhardinger, who had a career-high 41 points and 11 rebounds in the last game, only had 10 points and 10 rebounds this time.
“Standhardinger last game, Game Two, had 40 points. This game, we had to make it hard for him. Obviously, the next games coming forward, Friday and Saturday, kailangan pahirapan ulit namin siya and all the other guys,” Trillo said.
The Scores:
Meralco 87 – Maliksi 16, Newsome 14, Quinto 10, Banchero 9, Hodge 9, Almazan 8, Caram 6, Bates 6, Torres 3, Pascual 2, Rios 2, Dario 2, Mendoza 0, Pasaol 0.
Ginebra 80 – J. Aguilar 15, Ahanmisi 13, Standhardinger 10, Tenorio 9, Thompson 8, Pinto 6, Cu 5, Pessumal 5, Pringle 4, Onwubere 3, R. Aguilar 2, Murrell 0.
Quarterscores: 31-18, 48-34, 72-59, 87-80.
