Meralco arranged a fourth championship showdown with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel after defeating Magnolia Pambansang Manok, 94-81, in the deciding fifth game of their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Raymond Almazan, Allein Maliksi, Chris Newsome and Aaron Black all came through for the Bolts as they took control in the second half to win a bruising battle that enabled them to reach the finals for the fourth time in the last five editions of the reinforced tournament.
That came despite import Tony Bishop’s offensive struggles as Meralco was able to withstand an 11-point deficit in the second half and being down 46-41 at the half.
“It’s one of those things that we’re struggling the entire game, but you just hang on and just stay there and just hope that your shots fall and that’s what happened to us today, and eventually those shots started to fall,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.
Black and the Bolts will face the Gin Kings anew in a best-of-seven title series which starts April 6 at the Big Dome.
The Bolts have lost all of their previous three meetings against the Gin Kings, who will head to the finals oozing with confidence after dispatching the TNT Tropang Giga and NLEX Road Warriors despite being seeded sixth entering the playoffs.
With Bishop held to just eight points on 3-of-18 shooting, it was the locals who came through for Meralco.
Maliksi scored 24 points, Almazan had a big third quarter on his way to 18 points and five rebounds while Aaron Black was solid throughout to finish with 16 points and five rebounds.
Newsome made 11 of his 17 points in the fourth while adding eight rebounds and 12 assists as Meralco was able to create separation from Magnolia and led 85-72 with over four minutes to go.
Meralco’s defense also frustrating Magnolia, which lost import Mike Harris with 8:55 left in the fourth after a collision during a battle for the rebound underneath.
Harris had to receive an oxygen while doctors checked on him at the Big Dome before returning to the bench, albeit with help from a medical personnel.
He sat the rest of the contest as Magnolia fell short of forging a Manila Clasico finals duel with sister team Ginebra.
Almazan was huge in the third as Meralco was able to take the lead, only to see Magnolia go into the fourth up 65-62.
But the Bolts scored nine in a row courtesy of Maliksi and Almazan to go ahead 71-65 and never looked back.
Calvin Abueva was one of five Magnolia players in double figures with 21 points but it was not enough to complete a second straight finals appearance.
The woes were compounded with Harris held to five points on 2-of-7 shooting and had earlier received treatment from doctors after a landing on his back while trying to stop a Meralco attempt inside the shaded lane.
The struggles of both Harris and Bishop turned the contest into a matchup of which all-Filipino crew will step up, which turned out to be Meralco.
The scores:
MERALCO — Maliksi 24, Almazan 18, Newsome 17, Black 16, Bishop 8, Caram 4, Quinto 4, Hodge 3, Hugnatan 0, Baclao 0, Canete 0, Belo 0.
MAGNOLIA — Abueva 21, Barroca 11, Lee 13, Jalalon 11, Sangalang 10, Dela Rosa 6, Harris 5, Wong 2, Corpuz 1, Reavis 1, Brill 0, Dionisio 0, Escoto 0.
Quarters: 23-29, 41-46, 62-65, 94-81.