Meralco spoiled the special night of Harvey Carey following a 108-90 rout of TNT in the PBA On Tour, Wednesday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
All the attention was on the Tropang Giga lifer’s jersey retirement but the Bolts refused to become a mere footnote to the nostalgic ceremonies held during the halftime intermission — even if it was just a preseason affair.
Coming off a loss to Terrafirma the last time out, the crew used a big fourth quarter on the way to notching their fourth win in six games.
“Important that we got this game now kasi mabigat yung kalaban,” said head coach Luigi Trillo as Meralco will next face Magnolia and Ginebra.
Allein Maliksi finished with 28 points to lead the Bolts’ balanced attack, which they pulled off even after losing Anjo Caram to a hamstring injury early.
Bong Quinto flirted with a triple as he tallied 19 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. Raymond Almazan and Franky Johnson made 13 points apiece, while Cliff Hodge and Raymar Jose had 10 each and combined for 25 boards.
Maliksi, Quinto, and Johnson joined hands for the key 11-4 run abridging the third and fourth quarters for an 80-69 lead. It would be all Meralco since, with their lead going as high as 20 points, 103-83, with 3:02 left to play.
“Anjo Caram, he came out — I think na-pull ‘yung hamstring niya. So it’s nice for other guys to step up,” said Trillo.
Glenn Khobuntin, on the other hand, also punched in 28 points in the loss, which kept TNT still in search of a win after five games now.
Carl Cruz, Jaydee Tungcab, and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser all supplied 15 points for a Tropang Giga side that remains depleted due to injuries.
TNT will gun for its first win against a skidding San Miguel Beer (2-4)) on July 7, Friday, at 7:30 p.m. still at Ynares-Pasig.
The Scores:
Meralco (108) – Maliksi 28, Quinto 19, Almazan 13, Johnson 13, Hodge10, Jose 10, Torres 7, Dario 6, Pasaol 2, Caram 0, pascual 0
TNT 90 – Khobuntin 28, Ganuelas-Rosser 15, Tungcab 15, Cruz 15, Marcelo 6, Varilla 5, Alfaro 2, Jopia 2, Cuntapay 2
Quarterscores: 24-17, 48-44, 74-67, 108-90.
