ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Meralco weathers Bolick's 48-point explosion to inch closer to PH Cup semis

Meralco weathers Bolick's 48-point explosion to inch closer to PH Cup semis

Published May 10, 2024 11:53 am

At A Glance

  • Meralco weathered a huge 48-point explosion from Robert Bolick and came away with a pulsating 97-93 victory over NLEX to draw first blood in their best-of-three quarterfinals series in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday, May 10.

Meralco weathered a huge 48-point explosion from Robert Bolick and came away with a pulsating 97-93 victory over NLEX to draw first blood in their best-of-three quarterfinals series in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday, May 10.

PBA Images7 (60).jpg

After getting torched by Bolick in the first three quarters, the Bolts finally found a way to clamp down on the high-scoring guard in the final frame before Allein Maliksi made sure to hand the win to Meralco with crucial hits in the waning minutes.

With the Game 1 victory, Meralco is now a win away from a possible return trip to the semifinals. Game 2 of the series is on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Maliksi led the way for Meralco with 22 points – seven of which he fired inside the final five minutes of the contest when his team finally took the driver's seat after trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half.

While it was Maliksi who took the Bolts home, it was their defense that put him in the position to do so after the Bolts doubled their effort in denying and forcing Bolick to become a facilitator in the fourth quarter.

Only up by two, 95-93, Meralco made it difficult for NLEX to go to Bolick in the waning seconds, even forcing a crucial turnover with nine ticks left when Richie Rodgers had no other recourse but to pass the ball to Bolick, who was stepping at the sidelines.

Maliksi was then sent to the foul line in the ensuing possession, icing the game with his two free throws.

Five other Meralco players scored in double figures with Raymond Almazan adding 15 points while Anjo Caram added 14 points while also taking the tough task of defending Bolick in the final frame.

Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome had 12 apiece while Bong Quinto chipped in 11.

In contrast, Bolick was left to score more than a half of his team’s total with Michael Miranda only the other double-digit scorer for NLEX with 14. 

The loss wasted Bolick’s career-high effort which also turned out to be the league’s season-high scoring for locals and the most point scored by a local since Stanley Pringle dropped 50 points for NorthPort back in 2018.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.