Meralco banked on a strong first half to trounce Ginebra in wire-to-wire fashion, 90-73, in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, Wednesday night.
The Bolts entered halftime ahead by 18, 51-33, before spreading it even more to 22 at the end of third, 72-50.
“It was nice to see multiple guys chip in from our team. The last game against Rain or Shine the first group played well, the second group needed improvement and we talked about that,” said Meralco assistant coach Luigi Trillo.
Meralco created a three-way logjam with Magnolia and Blackwater for fourth with identical 5-3 win-loss cards.
Chris Newsome led four Bolts in double figures with 17 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Chris Banchero unleashed 17 points, while Cliff Hodge did it all with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, eight rebounds, four blocks, and two steals.
Bong Quinto also chimed in 10 points and five assists, while Aaron Black got nine points, seven rebounds, and five dimes.
Meralco seeks its third consecutive win on Friday against Magnolia at 6 pm at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
“We really needed this win just for our playoff hopes and we actually want to get a win because it’s Coach Luigi’s birthday and for Coach Norman who’s not here with us,” said Hodge.
Scottie Thompson delivered 14 points on 16 shots for the Barangay with five rebounds and four assists against five turnovers.
Nard Pinto supplied 12 points while Japeth Aguilar had a double-double of 11 points and 13 boards as Ginebra slipped to 6-3 at third place.
The Barangay will look to end its two-game skid on Sunday at 6:30 pm against NorthPort at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
Meralco 90 – Newsome 19, Banchero 17, Hodge 14, Quinto 10, Black 9, Maliksi 8, Almazan 6, Pascual 4, Johnson 3, Baclao 0, Jose 0, Pasaol 0, Hugnatan 0, Caram 0, Belo 0.
Ginebra 73 – Thompson 14, Pinto 12, Aguilar 11, Standhardinger 10, Tenorio 7, Pringle 6, Chan 5, Caperal 4, David 2, Mariano 2.
Quarterscores: 24-16, 51-33, 72-50, 90-73.
—
The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
