Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times

Basketball

Meralco’s positive energy sparked huge Game Two rally, says Newsome


SMART CLARK GIGA CITY — Things were looking grim for Meralco when it fell to a 13-point deficit in the third canto of its Game Two meeting with Barangay Ginebra in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals, Friday. 

Fortunately, Chris Newsome was there to wake them up.

The explosive 6-foot-2 guard gave the Bolts their first two points of the period through a breakaway one-handed dunk. He scored off a jumper moments later to further trim the Gin Kings’ lead.

Following his lead, his teammates stepped up. What was once a wide gap got chopped little by little; eventually, Meralco would see itself holding a 65-61 advantage entering the final 12 minutes.

The Bolts then did not let up, with Allein Maliksi widening their lead to start the fourth. Newsome, Reynel Hugnatan, Baser Amer, and Raymond Almazan then joined the fray as they ganged up on the Barangay.

Meralco won, 95-77, to tie the best-of-five series at 1-1.

Newsome finished with 16 points, including nine in the third alone. He was undeniably the one heading the retaliation, but the five-year pro deflected all the credit to his teammates for allowing him to do so.

“It was my teammates. My teammates kept me positive,” he said.

“That’s something that’s been going on this conference. When someone’s struggling, we’re positive. We try to lift them up and help them and encourage them and give them the confidence to keep going.

“And that’s what our team did for us today,” he furthered.

Newsome — who also had six assists and four rebounds in the win — feels proud of the energy they showed Friday. He admitted they didn’t have the same energy in their series opener, where they lost badly, 79-96.

#ReadMore  Chris Gavina keeps lines with UE open

“We knew that we had to come out with a lot more energy than we did in the first game. We knew it was gonna be a tough series. This isn’t the first time we played Ginebra,” he said.

Newsome also feels proud about the collective effort they showed. A total of six Bolts finished in twin digits in the triumph — far from Game One, where it was only him and Maliksi who scored in double figures.

“It was a great team effort today,” said Newsome.

“I think a lot of guys came out and gave a lot of energy today, which was very important for us,” he added.

“And of course we wanted to focus on defense and that showed today. I think we held them to just seventy points so that’s big time.”

Written By

Oftentimes on the sidelines. Forever a student of the game. Morayta-bred.




You May Also Like

Basketball

Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome closed it out as Meralco put an end to the six-game winning streak of NLEX by way of a...

Basketball

ANTIPOLO – Coach Luigi Trillo could only smile upon receiving a reminder about the last time Meralco started a PBA conference at 3-5. “I...

Basketball

Will there be a homecourt edge for Meralco? It sure is an intriguing possibility, now that Dubai is confirmed to be the host of...

Basketball

ANTIPOLO – Even without Cliff Hodge, Meralco still got the job done after rolling past the skidding Blackwater, 103-85, to snap out of its...

Basketball

Meralco forward Cliff Hodge has been suspended for one game and fined ₱100,000 by the PBA Commissioner’s Office following a flagrant foul on Magnolia...

Basketball

Cliff Hodge insisted there was no ill intent in his hard foul on Zavier Lucero that sparked a heated altercation late in Meralco’s 117-92...

Basketball

Paul Lee went on a heater run in the fourth quarter to help Magnolia finish strong against Meralco, 117-92, and stretch their unbeaten run...

Basketball

Meralco can finally field all its stars for the Basketball Champions League Asia 2025 now that they’ve been cleared to play as locals by...

Advertisement