For Meralco head coach Norman Black, it’s always a concern whenever his Bolts lose. And concerns have definitely grown bigger now, as the Orangemen suffered their second straight loss in the early goings of the 2018 Governors’ Cup.
Black’s wards bowed to Mike Harris and the debuting Alaska Aces, 72-80, on Friday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. The loss that had sent their card down to 1-2, tied with TNT KaTropa at the middle of the standings.
“It’s always a concern when you’re losing,” said Black.
“It’s part of the job.”
The Bolts actually had a good start in the match, and they even led by seven, 40-33, at the half. But the Aces found their groove in the third quarter, so much so that they turned things around and took a 61-50 lead heading into the fourth.
Meralco even went down by 15, 75-60, with 5:17 to go in the fourth quarter.
The Orangemen though gave themselves a chance to regain their hold of the matcjhwhen they zoomed to a 10-0 rally to close within five, 75-70, but Mike Harris nailed a dagger triple with 21 ticks left to play to dash their hopes.
“Bad second half. We played well in the first half but got off to a bad start in the second half. Committed a lot of turnovers which they turned it into turnover points,” reflected Black, as Alaska made 20 points off Meralco’s 11 errors.
After Friday, the Bolts will have a lengthy break before facing the facing the Phoenix Fuel Masters on September 19. It may have its’ drawbacks, but the multi-titled tactician looks to put their long layoff into good use.
“We have three-and-half weeks off.
“We had three games in one week and we’re off for three-and-a-half weeks. Scheduling was not perfect but at the same time we just have to get better during the break,” said Black.
