Meralco leaned on Chris Newsome and Jordon Varnado to repel Blackwater, 120-115, in a Tuesday night thriller at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium to notch a win so crucial in their PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup quarterfinal hopes.
Varnado finished with 31 points on top of seven rebounds and seven assists, while Newsome produced 24 and six boards as the two came through with crucial plays down the stretch to save the Bolts after losing a 20-point lead.
‘Newnew’ put them ahead with a three-point play, before Varnado dished out a nifty pass to a cutting Cliff Hodge, who followed up with a layup off a strong drive for a 7-0 run toward a 118-113 lead with 42 seconds left.
The Bossing tried to threaten by cutting the gap to only a single possession, 118-115, but couldn’t pull off crucial stops as Varnado went on to seal the deal with a perfect trip to the free-throw line with only 7.9 seconds to spare.
(C) PBA Images
“A lot of heroes from us,” said Coach Luigi Trillo. “Credit to Blackwater; they went small, gumamit ng players who can switch. It worked at nakahabol sila.”
Meralco has overtaken Blackwater at the No. 4 spot in Group B by improving to 4-5, with its foe dropping to 3-6 after losing its second game in a row.
“Magrarambulan pa ‘yan eh,” Trillo said about the scenarios in their stacked pool, which is currently led by Magnolia (6-3) followed by Rain or Shine and Phoenix, whom they will be facing this Friday to finish their group phase run.
“But at this point, we just need to control what’s in front of us, which is Phoenix. You know, point differential comes into play that’s why even in that last play we tried to score … we take this W and we move forward to the next one.”
Bong Quinto supplied 15 points and nine rebounds plus three assists. Hodge, sporting protective eyewear after undergoing eye laser surgery, made 12 points and eight rebounds, while Jason Brickman chipped in 10 and six assists.
“We fought tonight. Wonderful game we played,” said Varnado, who also had two steals and two blocks. “Give Blackwater credit; they came back, they kept fighting, we just sustained the lead and just kept fighting and finished it.”
(C) PBA Images
Sedrick Barefield had 31 points and five rebounds to lead the Bossing, who fell to 3-5 and is now sharing the same record with Barangay Ginebra.
Kentrell Barkley made 29 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. RK Ilagan and Dalph Panopio added 15 and 11, respectively, in the defeat, which was their second to Meralco in this conference after losing in the first round, 116-114.
The Scores:
Meralco 120 – Varnado 31, Newsome 24, Quinto 15, Hodge 12, Brickman 10, Mocon 9, Bates 7, Banchero 6, Cansino 6, Almazan 0
Blackwater 115 – Barefield 31, Barkley 29, Ilagan 15, Panopio 10, Una 9, Tratter 7, David 5, DiGregorio 3, Escoto 3, Murrell 3, Demusis 0, Austria 0, Cruz-Dumont 0, Mallillin 0.
Quarterscores: 32-36, 68-58, 97-86, 120-115
