ANTIPOLO — Meralco only needed little time to get going before thrashing the hard-luck Terrafirma, 120-87, toward improving to .500 in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center here, Wednesday evening.
The Bolts finished the opening period with a 14-0 run to erase a six-point deficit before exploding for 35 in the ensuing period for the 59-42 lead entering the break, setting the tone for the rout to eventually snap out of a two-game funk.
Coach Luigi Trillo’s wards evened their record to 4-4 following the victory, seizing solo seventh in the process after sharing as much with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, which will take on Blackwater later in the night,
Now they’d need to rack up more wins in their next three elimination round games–Phoenix, Converge, and San Miguel–to reach the quarterfinals.
(C) PBA Images
“I think they know how important these games are,” offered the champion mentor. “I think we need to win two or three. Kung manalo kami roon, it might put us in a situation where we might have a chance pa sa Top Four.”
CJ Cansino led Meralco with 20 points and eight rebounds. Chris Banchero made 13 points off the bench, while Chris Newsome supplied 12 points.
Raymond Almazan and Bong Quinto came through with 11 points apiece and combined for 17 rebounds after posting near-double-double performances.
Brandon Bates chipped in seven points and 16 rebounds plus three blocks for a Meralco side that’s back in PBA action after over a month.
“It’s nice that everybody kinda chipped in in this game,” Trillo said as 13 of his players scored at least six points. “It wasn’t just four or five guys.”
(C) PBA Images
Mark Nonoy, on the other hand, had 22 points to lead Terrafirma, which fell to its seventh straight loss that formally kicked the team out of contention.
The Dyip, now carrying a 1-8 record, are missing the playoffs for the fourth straight conference or for the 24th time in 26 conferences of existence in the league, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
The regular league minnows will wrap up its tournament against the Kings and the Beermen on December 12 and December 17, respectively.
The Scores:
Meralco 120 – Cansino 20, Banchero 13, Newsome 12, Quinto 11, Almazan 11, Reyson 9, Bates 7, Maliksi 7, Black 6, Hodge 6, Rios 6, Jose 6, Comia 6, Pascual 0, Caram 0.
Terrafirma 87 – Nonoy 22, Hernandez 18, Sangalang 13, Ahanmisi 7, Paraiso 6, Catapusan 5, Rivero 5, Bravo 3, Zaldivar 2, Hanapi 2, Olivario 0, Bataller 0, Garcia 0.
Quarterscores: 24-16, 59-42, 90-62, 120-87.
