It’s been a long time coming and it was well worth the wait for Meralco. 

Meralco star Chris Banchero has never tasted victory this sweet as the Bolts captured their first-ever franchise title after taking down the San Miguel Beermen with a hard-fought 80-78 Game 6 victory in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday night, June 16, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 

Two years after signing with the Bolts, the 35-year-old became an integral part of Meralco in its campaign leading up to its biggest, best win in the league yet. 

Still unable to wrap his head around it, Banchero could only recall everything the Bolts had to go through to finally reach the top. 

At some point, Meralco was all the way down 11th place in the elimination round standings and had to crawl out of a deep hole. 

The Bolts went on a determined four-game winning run to barge into the playoffs before turning back a star-studded Barangay Ginebra side in the semifinal and forge a final series against defending champion San Miguel. 

“I can’t even put it into words. To win it this way, you know, the past seven weeks have kind of been a blur. We were in 11th place, we had to win four games in a row. And then playoffs, and then we had to go through NLEX, Ginebra, and we had to get through San Miguel. That’s a tough task. But everybody stepped up, and there’s not many words to describe this feeling,” said Banchero. 

“I’m just proud of everybody because we were really the only ones who believed. Everybody else counted us out especially when we were in 11th, and Nenad (Vucinic) came in and showed us this photo. This room is the only team, people who believe. It kind of feels like a blur,” he added. 

In Game 6, Banchero started it all for the Bolts. 

Coming in like lightning, the 6-foot-1 guard accounted for the squad’s first eight points four minutes since the tip-off. 

He eventually scattered 10 points that went with a huge eight-rebound and eight- assist effort including the inbound pass he delivered straight to Chris Newsome, who nailed the game-winner with 3.3 left to make history. 

“To win my first one, it’s really special and on Father’s Day, the way we wanted to. When June Mar [Fajardo] hit that three, that was the loudest I’ve ever heard Araneta. I looked up at the clock and I was like we got a little bit of time left, three seconds. Draw up a play, and God willing, New knocked down that shot. I’ve thrown him that pass many times, so it’s just hard to put into words.”