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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider SMB, Meralco eye bounce back

SMB, Meralco eye bounce back

Published Apr 27, 2026 01:43 pm

At A Glance

  • San Miguel and Meralco look to put their playoff bids back on track when they lock horns in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner's Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Tuesday, April 28.
San Miguel import Bennie Boatwright (PBA Images)
San Miguel import Bennie Boatwright (PBA Images)
San Miguel and Meralco look to put their playoff bids back on track when they lock horns in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Tuesday, April 28.
The Bolts and the Beermen figure in a marquee duel at 7:30 p.m. with both squads looking to pick themselves up after tough losses last time out.
Setting things up for the interesting contest is the clash between cellar dwellers Blackwater and Macau in the first game at 5:15 p.m.
Even with the arrival of Bennie Boatwright, the Beermen remained sloppy in this conference,   dropping what seemed to be a winnable game against the then-skidding Bossing, 120-126.
The loss even came despite big games from its triumvirate of Boatwright, June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez.
“Parang we take it for granted e, because who would have thought naman, we beat NLEX, Converge, and Ginebra, and then it's a team that is in the bottom four,” lamented head coach Leo Austria.
With Don Trollano, the third leading local scorer in the last conference, still nursing an injury, guys like Jericho Cruz, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross need to step up especially against the swarming defense of Meralco.
The Bolts, for one, are surely raring to bounce back from their close 104-101 loss to the NLEX Road Warriors.
Expected to lead the charge for Meralco is import Marvin Jones alongside local stars Chris Newsome and CJ Cansino.
The Bolts are also certainly fully recharged coming off a 10-day break and even more motivated as they look to strengthen their hold of the top 4 spot.
A win would put them on a solo third and just half a game behind second-running Barangay Ginebra and NLEX.
The Beermen (4-5), on the other hand, are trying to keep their grip inside the playoff picture with Converge FiberXers(4-6) making a hot pursuit at the ninth spot.

Related Tags

PBA PBA Commissioner\'s Cup San Miguel Beer San Miguel Beermen Meralco Bolts
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