Meralco went on a power surge in the second half to stun Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 95-77 and tie at 1-1 their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series Friday night at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.
The Bolts banked on Allein Maliksi, Chris Newsome, Raymond Almazan and Baser Amer in the second half to not only erase a 50-42 halftime deficit but also produce a lopsided victory that atoned for their 96-79 loss in the series opener two nights ago.
Bong Quinto, Cliff Hodge and Reynel Hugnatan were consistent throughout as the Bolts denied the Kings a commanding 2-0 advantage into the third game of their best-of-five affair slated Sunday evening.
“We just talked about the fact that we cannot go down 0-2 because we will have no chance of coming back in the series so this game is really, really important for us,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.
“We found out in Game 1 what exactly what we were up against. Offensive and defensively, we made some few adjustments to try and be able to beat this team and the players executed very, very well. The teamwork was there and we have balanced scoring than in Game 1,” he added.
Six Meralco players scored in double figures with Newsome and Maliksi leading the way with 16 and 14 points after finding their rhythm in the second half.
Newsome and Maliksi combined for 14 points in the third as Meralco didn’t budge after Ginebra opened the quarter with five straight points to lead 55-42. The Bolts would outscore the Kings 23-6 to enter the fourth ahead 65-61.
Almazan imposed his inside presence on both ends while Amer fired two critical threes that enabled Meralco to lead 77-67 and 82-67 midway into the final canto.
Almazan had 11 points and 11 rebounds in a performance Black described as his best this season while Amer added 10 points.
Quinto had 14 points and six rebounds, Hodge 12 points and 11 rebounds and Hugnatan nine points, nine rebounds and five assists as they redeemed themselves from their Game 1 struggles.
Japeth Aguilar posted 17 points and eight rebounds while LA Tenorio scored 16 points on four triples but went scoreless in the second half.
But a key aspect in Ginebra’s loss was Stanley Pringle who was held to just nine points on 4-of-16 shooting.
The scores:
MERALCO 95 — Newsome 16, Quinto 14, Maliksi 14, Hodge 12, Almazan 11, Amer 10, Hugnatan 9, Pinto 3, Black 2, Caram 2, Jamito 2, Faundo 0, Jose 0, Salva 0.
GINEBRA 77 — Aguilar 17, Tenorio 16, Thompson 10, Tolentino 9, Pringle 9, Caperal 6, Salado 4, Mariano 4 , Caguioa 2, Dela Cruz 0, Dillinger 0, Devance 0, Balanza 0
Quarters: 23-27, 42-50, 65-61, 95-77.