Meralco withstood Magnolia’s fourth quarter rally and walked away with the 81-75 decision to even their 2022 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal series at one game apiece, Friday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Chris Newsome broke the 66-all deadlock through a three-pointer with 8:01 remaining in the game, and the troika of Aaron Black, Tony Bishop, and Bong Quinto went on to help their main man in sealing the victory.
“We just came to the conclusion that the only way we’re gonna win this series is we just have to focus on the defensive end of the court,” said head coach Norman Black on the key to bouncing back from the Game One loss.
“We still wanna keep the game fast, keep it quick, whenever we can have the opportunity to score on the fastbreak we just want to take advantage of it. But we know it’s gonna be our defense that’s gonna make a difference this series,” he continued.
Bishop led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds, indeed a perfect response following a 10-point performance in the series opener two nights ago.
“It’s very important for Tony to produce for us in this series. And I say that because he’s going up against Mike Harris who produces every single night,” said Black of the Panamanian, who also had two blocks and a steal.
Newsome finished with 18 points. Aaron Black had 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Chris Banchero added 10 in the victory.
The game, though, wasn’t without controversy. Bishop missed a long shot with 27 seconds remaining and the shot clock buzzer sounded, but it appeared that the ball barely hit the rim though Meralco was able to get the board.
Referees and officials didn’t call for a stoppage, leaving Hotshots head coach Chito Victolero and his staff fuming over the apparent non-call.
“The referee said it hit the rim,” Black said. “It’s the discretion of the referee whether he’ll blow his whistle or not. They can ring the buzzer all they want on the sideline, but the referee can decide whether it hit the rim or it didn’t.”
Meanwhile, Mike Harris, as usual, set the pace for Magnolia with 25 points and 17 rebounds. But he received little help from the locals.
Paul Lee was the only other double-digit scorer for the Hotshots with 10 as usual provider Calvin Abueva fouled out late and finished with just nine.
Fouls were indeed a problem for Victolero’s wards, with two-way specialists Mark Barroca and Rome Dela Rosa amassing five fouls apiece.
Game Three of the best-of-five series is on Sunday, 4:00 p.m. still at the same venue.
The Scores:
Meralco 81 – Bishop 22, Newsome 18, Black 14, Banchero 10, Maliksi 6, Almazan 5, Hugnatan 3, Quinto 2, Jose 1, Hodge 0, Caram 0, Baclao 0.
Magnolia 75 – Harris 25, Lee 10, Sangalang 9, Abueva 9, Dela Rosa 7, Jalalon 6, Corpuz 3, Barroca 3, Wong 3, Dionisio 0, Reavis 0.
Quarterscores: 20-15, 42-37, 66-61, 81-75
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