MERALCO outhustled and outplayed San Miguel Beer at the finish, pulling off a 100-93 win to formalize entry in the PBA Commissioner's Cup playoffs in a road game at the Candon City Arena in Ilocos Sur Saturday night.
Akil Mitchell, Chris Newsome and Chris Banchero were bright lights, leading the Bolts past the Beermen and to a third straight win that kept the team in strong contention for a Top Two finish in the single-round-robin eliminations.
With their triumphant result in their Candon out-of-town tussle, the Bolts drew level with the NorthPort Batang Pier, the Converge FiberXers and the Hong Kong Eastern dribblers at second spot at 7-3, a full game behind the TNT Tropang Giga (6-2).
Beaten from an 80-all count at the end of the third period, the Beermen dropped to 4-5 but remained at eighth place, ahead of ninth-running Magnolia (4-6) and joint 10th placers Phoenix Super LPG (3-6) and NLEX (3-6).
Meralco blew away a double-digit lead in the second half but recovered behind the heroics of Mitchell, Newsome and Banchero to sustain their run and boost their bid for a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals.
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Mitchell dropped 26 points, 16 rebounds and five assists while Newsome and Banchero added 20 and 19 points, respectively, but the Bolts needed to regroup in the fourth after squandering a 70-59 lead in the third.
Mitchell, Newsome and Banchero fueled Meralco's key run capped by Mitchell's and-one in the final five minutes to flip an 86-89 deficit to a sudden 96-89 upperhand on their way to third straight win after previously beating NLEX, 105-91, and NorthPort, 111-94.
June Mar Fajardo (20) and CJ Perez (16) led SMB in scoring as new import Malik Pope bled for just 14 points in his PBA debut after replacing Jabari Narcis. (SB)
The scores:
Meralco 100 - Mitchell 26, Newsome 20, Banchero 19, Reyson 7, Almazan 6, Cansino 6, Mendoza 4, Hodge 4, Rios 3, Torres 3, Quinto 2, Bates 0, Caram 0.
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San Miguel 93 - Fajardo 20, Perez 16, Pope 14, Trollano 14, Tiongson 9,Tautuaa 8, Cruz 7, Rosales 5, Ross 0, Brondial 0, Teng 0, Lassiter 0.
Quarterscores: 26-18, 46-47, 80-80, 100-93
