After not showing up against Alvark last Friday, the Meralco Bolts locals showed their lethal form and destroyed reigning titlists Al-Riyadi of Lebanon, 96-63, to qualify for the 2018 FIBA Asia Champions Cup semifinals, Saturday night at Stadium29 in Nonthaburi, Thailand.
Nobody ever imagined the Philippine contingent would make it into the penultimate phase, considering that they lost their first two assignments, but with the quotient system in effect, the Bolts pulled off the improbable.
Meralco (1-2) will be joining Group A leader Alvark Tokyo (3-0) in the semis trip.
Unlike in their loss to Alvark on Friday, the locals stepped up big time in the rousing victory, with Garvo Lanete leading the way with 20 points on 7-of-9 field goal shooting. KG Cañaleta provided 18 markers on four triples. Anjo Caram chimed in 11 markers, five rebounds, and four assists.
For the game, Meralco’s locals combined for 66 points – 52 points more than their total output against Alvark.
The Bolts started to make it a one-sided affair in the second frame. Down three to start the quarter, Meralco turned on the jets and made 15 unanswered points – capped by Cañaleta’s trey – to post a 38-26 lead with 6:58 to go.
The Lebanese ball club then never had a chance to crawl back from the deficit. As a result, they would go down by as many as 30-plus points numerous times in the final frame, as the Bolts could not be stopped.
Diamond Stone had 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Allen Durham didn’t have to do much and only made 10 points, 14 rebounds, three dimes, and two steals.
Bassel Bawji led Al-Riyadi with 19 points alongside six caroms. The only support he received was from Mark Lyons – who got ejected late in the game after a second motion – with 14 points on a paltry 6-of-17 shooting from the floor.
The Bolts will face Petrochimi of Iran on Monday, October 1, in a knockout semis clash at 7:00 PM.
The Scores:
Meralco (96) – Stone 20, Lanete 20, Canaleta 18, Caram 11, Durham 10, Amer 8, Atkins 5, Tolomia 3, Salva 2, Hugnatan 0, Jamito 0.
Al Riyadi (63) – Bawji 19, Lyons 14, Saoud 9, El Nour 17, Abdelnour 7, El Kaissi 4, Ziade 3, Akl 3, El Khatib 2, Kodsi 2.
Quarterscores: 23-26, 49-33, 72-49, 96-63.
