Chris Newsome finally regained his shooting touch and led Meralco to a sweep of their elimination matchup against Magnolia with a wire-to-wire 82-74 victory on the road at the Panabo Multi-Purpose Tourism, Cultural, and Sports Center on Saturday, Sept. 7.

Newsome getting his groove back after suffering an ankle injury two weeks ago came at the right time for the Bolts who did just enough to keep the Hotshots at bay and list their fourth straight triumph.

The last Philippine Cup Finals Most Valuable Player seemed to be back in full health after dropping 21 points and eight rebounds while import Allen Durham posted a double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds to hold the fort for Meralco’s depleted frontline that was missing Raymond Almazan, Cliff Hodge and Norbert Torres.

Bong Quinto also finished with 16 points while Chris Banchero had 10 as the Bolts solidified their hold of the top spot in the Group A standing with a 5-1 record despite their depleted lineup that was also without wingers Aaron Black and Allein Maliksi.

Meralco led by as many as 13 points in the contest, fully taking advantage of Magnolia which played import-less despite having supposed replacement Shabazz Muhammad joining the out-of-town trip in Panabo.

According to reports, Muhammad, who was taking the place of Magnolia first choice Glenn Robinson III, has yet to get a clearance to play from FIBA, forcing the Hotshots to play with their locals.

Still, despite playing without an import, Magnolia stayed too close for comfort after only trailing by four entering the final two minutes of the game. However, consecutive hits from Durham, Quinto and Newsome proved to be the killing blows as Meralco took a comfortable 80-70 late in the contest.

Zav Lucero paced Magnolia with 14 points and 13 rebounds while Paul Lee and Mark Barroca had 11 and 10. The Hotshots, however, fell to an even 3-3 record in the standings.