Meralco completed the Top Four picture after breezing past Terrafirma, 113-69, in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium Friday evening.
The Bolts wasted no time taking control before racing to a 51-20 lead against a Dyip team that played without import Mubashar Ali due to food poisoning, and the game would never be in question as they went on to accomplish their goal.
All that they needed was to win in their penultimate game of the elimination round to clinch the remaining twice-to-beat ticket, and the MVP franchise did just that, joining NLEX, Ginebra, and Rain or Shine in the magic circle.
(C) PBA Images
They improved to 8-3 in the process, creating a logjam with the Kings and the Elasto Painters, although that would be broken later in the night when the latter takes on another also-ran team in Titan Ultra in the 7:30 p.m. closer.
So from here on out, the remaining games until this Sunday will all be about seeding for the quarterfinals, which commences on Wednesday, May 13.
“It’s been three years since we had a chance to get a twice-to-beat,” reflected head coach Luigi Trillo, referring to the 2023 Governors’ Cup, where they last punched a win-once incentive after finishing the eliminations at No. 4.
“We did enough early to get some wins that even if we lost to NLEX and San Miguel, we put ourselves in a situation to do that. Sometimes a little bit of luck, like their import didn’t play today. Happy for the guys,” he added.
Seven players finished in double figures in the dominant victory, with Marvin Jones and Chris Newsome top-scoring with 14 points apiece as the tandem hardly needed to see action given how one-sided the game had become.
CJ Cansino had 13 points. Brandon Bates tallied a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, with Bong Quinto and Javee Mocon adding 11 each as well.
Chris Banchero chipped in 10 markers off the bench as a total of 14 players contributed at least two points in the win, where they had 29 assists.
Meralco will look to finish the eliminations with four straight wins when it takes on the 6-5 Magnolia this Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
(C) PBA Images
Paolo Hernandez, on the other hand, finished with 15 points and six rebounds to lead Terrafirma, which finished the conference with a 4-8 record.
The Scores:
Meralco 113 – Jones 14, Newsome 14, Cansino 13, Quinto 11, Bates 11, Mocon 11, Banchero 10, Maliksi 8, Caram 5, Hodge 4, Magbuhos 4, Pascual 3, Rios 3, Comia 2, Brickman 0, Black 0.
Terrafirma 69 – Hernandez 15, M. Ahanmisi 12, Chiu 10, Bravo 10, J. Ahanmisi 6, Adamos 5, Umali 4, Hanapi 3, Paraiso 2, Garcia 2, Catapusan 0, Zaldivar 0.
Quarterscores: 37-20, 61-42, 89-53, 113-69.
