Meralco’s playoff bid in the East Asia Super League Home-and-Away Season 2 took a major blow after absorbing a tough 89-71 beating at the hands of the visiting Ryukyu of the Japan B. League on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at the PhilSports Arena.

Playing without import Aki Mitchell took a big toll on the Bolts as they simply found no answer to the Golden Kings' runs in the middle quarters which broke the game wide open.

Ryukyu import Vic Law stood tall in the middle, throwing his weight around against the Bolts’ local big men to finish with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Alex Kirk and Keve Aluma had their fair share of damage against Meralco.

Kirk fired 19 points while Aluma added 18 for the Golden Kings who outscored the Bolts, 27-19, in the second frame to take a 50-41 lead at the break before further padding the advantage to 75-56 heading into the final frame following a 25-15 third quarter assault.

Meralco’s offense was simply going out of nowhere without Mitchell who had been complaining of his back issues which the Bolts coaching staff decided for him to just rest.

With the loss, the Bolts’ playoff bid is now left hanging in the balance heading into their final assignment on the road against the New Taipei Kings on Feb. 12.

Meralco dropped to a 2-3 record for the fourth spot in Group B standings and its only hope of advancing to the Final Four is forging a three-way tie for the second spot along with the Kings and the Macau Black Bears.

Cliff Hodge tried to carry the fight for Meralco with 13 points while Angelo Kouame and Chris Newsome added 13 and 12, respectively, but were not enough especially with its other import DJ Kennedy also struggling with only three points to show.