Meralco stormed back from 16 points down to frustrate Barangay Ginebra in a rivalry affair, 89-75, and register its second win in a row in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup on Friday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Chris Newsome, CJ Cansino, and Bong Quinto formed the three-man breakaway committee. They put together the decisive 16-0 run toward an 83-69 lead with 1:32 left to play that completely shifted the game in their favor.
A couple more hits by Quinto afterwards — including one from the four-point area with 29.4 seconds left — proved to be the final touches. The Bolts completed the rally after staring at a 56-40 deficit late in the third.
“We were a little bit out of control. I thought our defense played better in the second half,” offered head coach Luigi Trillo shortly after the triumph.
“Third quarter, 19 points Ginebra, fourth quarter, 14. They’re a disciplined team, a well-coached team. They have a lot of weapons, but I think we did well.”
(C) PBA Images
Newsome finished with 19 points and eight rebounds to lead Meralco, which improved to .500 after opening the season with back-to-back defeats.
Cansino supplied 18 points in yet another solid showing from the sophomore, while Quinto chipped in 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
“Starting 0-2, that was pretty heavy for us, especially the way we lost. For us, it’s really about making sure that we’re there for each other,” said Newsome. “In our locker room, the guys are continuing to cheer for each other.
“You can see our bench standing up whenever guys are making plays, you can see guys diving for loose balls. It’s a lot of those things that don’t show up on the stats sheet that really make this team what it is,” he added.
Meralco will look to make it three in a row when it battles Magnolia in another marquee matchup this Sunday at the Ynares Center II in Montalban.
(C) PBA Images
RJ Abarrientos, on the other hand, led Ginebra with 14 points off the bench in the defeat, which is already their second thus far this season (1-2).
Japeth Aguilar made 13 points and six rebounds. Stephen Holt made 12 points and only two steals, while Jeremiah Gray added 10 markers.
In the midst of a killer schedule, the Kings will soon fly to Dubai to face defending conference champions San Miguel at the Coca-Cola Arena.
“It’s been a tough schedule,” admitted head coach Tim Cone. “We played Magnolia, Talk N Text, Meralco, then San Miguel next. We knew this was gonna be tough to start. But I’ve seen a lot of positive things that I like.”
The Scores:
Meralco 89 – Newsome 19, Cansino 18, Quinto 11, Hodge 8, Black 8, Maliksi 7, Almazan 6, Banchero 6, Bates 6, Jose 0, Pascual 0.
Ginebra 75 – Abarrientos 14, J.Aguilar 13, Holt 12, Gray 10, Estil 9, Thompson 6, Rosario 5, Torres 3, Pinto 3, Cu 0, David 0.
Quarterscores: 16-20, 30-42, 56-61, 89-75.
