It was a tough night for the grand slam-chasing San Miguel Beer team made tougher by Meralco's solid game on both ends.
The Bolts started strong then made the most on Dez Wells' exit due to an ankle sprain as Meralco clobbered San Miguel, 125-99, to swap places with the losing team in the PBA Governors Cup leaderboard at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.
With June Mar Fajardo also sitting out precious minutes after sustaining a scratch on his face, the Bolts utterly dominated the Beermen in the second half en route to notching a fifth win against two losses.
Another triple-double job by Allen Durham carried the Bolts to third place behind the TNT KaTropa (7-1) and the NLEX Road Warriors (6-1). The Beermen, meanwhile, dropped to 5-3.
"We're trying to get better and improve, and we came out tonight with a good shooting performance," said Meralco coach Norman Black.
Sponsored content:
"Baser (Amer) was a great sniper for us. He shot the ball really well, and Allein Maliksi came out and gave us a big lift along with Raymond Almazan and Chris Newsome. It's a good team effort led by Allen Durham," Black added.
Durham collected 29 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists in yet another triple-double job, Amer exploded for 26 points spiked by four treys while Maliksi came up with 12 markers with 2-of-6 triples in his first game as a Bolt.
The Bolts had a productive game with Newsome (14), Almazan (12) and Bryan Faundo (10) also putting in double-digit outputs.
For SMB, it's really a tough, tough night especially after Wells sprained an ankle after stepping it on Newsome's foot midway through the second quarter.
After a brief rest, Wells returned and even scored five points. But at the half, the Beermen decided not to play Wells anymore.
Sponsored content:
Minus Wells, the Bolts pummeled the Beermen, 61-50 in the second half.
The Bolts actually outscored the Beermen on all quarters, taking the opening canto at 30-21 and the second period at 34-28.
Defensively, the Bolts applied a triple and even a quadruple-teaming defense every time the ball reached Fajardo at the post.
Still, Fajardo led the Beermen with 31 points.
The scores:
Meralco 125 - Durham 29, Amer 26, Newsome 14, Maliksi 12, Almazan 12, Faundo 10, Quinto 7, Jamito 6, Caram 6, Hugnatan 3, Hodge 0, Pinto 0, Jose 0, Jackson 0.
San Miguel 99 - Fajardo 31, Wells 18, Cabagnot 12, Pessumal 9, Romeo 8, Ross 5, Nabong 3, Santos 2, Tautuaa 0, Rosser 0, Zamar 0.
Quarterscores: 30-21, 64-49, 92-70, 125-99.
