MERALCO proved steadier in the clutch to withstand the tough stand put up by Robert Bolick and the rest of NLEX for a 97-93 win Friday at the start of their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals duel at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Allein Maliksi scored seven of the Bolts' last eight points, enabling them to hold off the Road Warriors for good in the match serving as the opener of the best-of-three matchup.
One more win Sunday, when the series shifts to the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, and Meralco advances to the best-of-seven semifinals where it faces the winner of the other quarterfinal pairing between Barangay Ginebra and Magnolia.
For the moment, coach Luigi Trillo is simply glad his Bolts managed to overcome some lapses, which led to as much as a 12-point first half deficit, and Bolick's explosion that ultimately translated into a career-high 48-point total.
"We're not pleased with the way we played the first half," said Trillo. "If we're gonna play like that again we're not gonna pass into the semifinals. For us we still need to improve a lot. We weren't satisfied with it.
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"At this point in time it's the playoffs. There's gonna be points of attack, it's gonna be harder. Personally, as a coach... we're not satisfied with the way we played in the first half."
More frustrated is NLEX, especially Bolick, after his efforts, went for naught.
The star guard actually drove in to put the Road Warriors ahead, 93-92, with 1:05 remaining in the game, but that proved to be their last taste of the lead as Maliksi's charities put the Bolts up, 94-93, with 45.7 seconds to go.
Chris Newsome's charity split pushed Meralco's lead to two before Anjo Caram harassed Rickie Rodger and Bolick into a muffed hand-off with the ball going out of bounds in the last 13.1 seconds. That led to two more freebies by Maliksi that virtually iced the game.
Maliksi wound up with 22 points to lead Meralco with Raymond Almazan adding 15, Chris Banchero and Newsome 12 each and Caram, starting in the place of the injured Aaron Black, chipping in 14 markers.
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Bolick's 20 points in the first quarter marked only the second time in the conference a player scored so many in a period as he matched Maliksi's fourth quarter output last Feb. 28. His total was also the league's highest since Stanley Pringle scattered 50 while still with NorthPort in the 2018 Commissioner's Cup and made possible by him going 12-of-25 from the field, including 6-of-13 from three-point land, and 18-of-19 from the stripes.
Except for Michael Miranda's 14, however, no other NLEX player was able to provide enough support.
For a long while, though, it seemed the sixth-ranked Road Warriors were ready to turn the tables on their third-seeded foes after Bolick boomed in his first four tries from beyond the arc to score 20 right in the opening quarter and lift his team to a 28-23 lead.
Bolick's five straight points even made it a 49-37 count before NLEX settled for a 54-44 count at the half and had enough left to raze Meralco's 81-75 lead and make a close contest of it until the dying seconds.(NC)
The Scores:
MERALCO 97 - Maliksi 22, Almazan 15, Caram 14, Newsome 12, Banchero 12, Quinto 11, Bates 4, Torres 3, Hodge 2, Pasaol 2, Dario 0.
NLEX 93 - Bolick 48, Miranda 14, Rodger 6, Herndon 6, Nieto 5, Semerad 5, Fajardo 4, Marcelo 2, Valdez 2, Amer 1, Anthony 0.
QUARTERS: 23-28, 44-54, 73-75, 97-93
