In a display of what it is truly capable of when healthy, Meralco clamped down on Eastern and came away with a 88-83 victory, opening the new year in style while also snapping a two-game slide in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, Jan. 5.

The Bolts put up a tough defensive stand against the Hong Kong-based team as Akil Mitchell and Bong Quinto took care of the offense to welcome their returning players Raymond Almazan, Brandon Bates and CJ Cansino with a win.

Mitchell actually made his presence felt on both ends of the floor, pouring in 31 points to go with 14 rebounds, seven steals and five assists. 

Quinto backstopped him with 16 points while Chris Newsome and Aaron Black added nine apiece as Meralco improved to a 4-2 record while Eastern dropped to a 6-3 slate.

“I thought our guys were tough today, chasing off screens, bigs having to stay high and execute our pick and roll defense and then having to move back and defend. It’s toughness,” said head coach Luigi Trillo who praised his wards’ defense which limited Eastern to just 83 after averaging 99.3 points through its first eight games.

The Bolts proved to be well recharged after a one and a half weeks break as they simply found answers to every Eastern’s attempt to take the driver's seat.

Meralco unloaded an 8-0 response after Eastern took a 72-71 lead. While the run somehow restored some sort of order for the Bolts, the PBA guest team kept itself within striking distance – the closest at 81-84 with 2:44 left.

Black, however, delivered the killing blow with a tough dipsy doo layup over the challenge of Eastern import Chris McLaughlin with 45.3 seconds left before Newsome iced the game with two free throws to create the final separation.

McLaughlin paced Eastern with 28 points, 18 rebounds, three steals and four blocks while Kobey Lam added 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds.