Meralco simply proved steadier down the stretch and went on to outlast Macau in a thrilling encounter, 115-110, to notch its third consecutive win in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup, Saturday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Bolts found themselves trailing by a field goal with 3:58 to go, but youngster CJ Cansino took matters into his own hands, scoring in back-to-back fashion to put themselves ahead for good, 111-109, with less than two minutes remaining.
Ramon Cao cut the spread to just a point following a split from the charity stripe, but momentum was already on the opposing team’s side, with import Marvin Jones pushing their lead back to 113-110 with 45.1 seconds to spare.
Cansino then came through with a big denial by swatting away Phoenix Shackleford’s attempt from beyond the arc, before Jansen Rios fully closed the door on the Black Knights with a conversion inside with 9.8 ticks left to play.
(C) PBA Images
“They hung in there, they started making their threes. But at the end of the day, these guys pulled through,” lauded head coach Luigi Trillo. “Coach had a talk with them at the half; he got them to realize how big this game is.”
Jones finished with 32 points and 14 rebounds to lead Meralco, which broke away from NLEX to grab solo second in the standings after improving to 5-1.
Cansino delivered 23 points and seven rebounds, plus two steals. Jason Brickman delivered 13 points, three rebounds, and six assists while Chris Newsome chipped in 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists for the Bolts.
The Bolts will look to make it four straight when they take on, coincidentally, the Road Warriors on Friday, April 17, at the Ynares Center II in Montalban.
(C) PBA Images
Shackelford, on the other hand, had 29 points–spiked by a 4-of-5 clip from three–to lead Macau, which fell to its sixth defeat in as many outings.
Jenning Leung had 21 points and seven rebounds with four assists. Cao made 20 points and eight rebounds as Tony Mitchell added 16 and 14.
Damian Chongqui had 13 points and 13 assists as head coach Marcus Elliott shortened his rotation, which proved effective as it enabled the guest team to go toe-to-toe with the one-time Philippine Cup champs, but still wasn’t enough.
The Black Knights (0-6) will try to end their winless spell when they get a first crack at NLEX (4-1) on April 14, Tuesday, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Scores:
Meralco 115 – Jones 32, Cansino 23, Brickman 13, Newsome 11, Black 9, Rios 7, Almazan 7, Banchero 6, Quinto 3, Hodge 2, Magbuhos 2.
Macau 110 – Shackelford 29, Leung 21, Cao 20, Mitchell 16, Chongqui 13, Lao 9, Li 2, Sun 0, Li 0.
Quarterscores: 26-25, 53-57, 87-81, 115-100.
