MERALCO shrugged off the absence of vital cog Cliff Hodge and snapped out of a two-game slide by slipping past hapless Blackwater, 103-85, Wednesday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Chris Newsome scored 19 points and led those who helped make up for the sidelining of Hodge, who was meted a one-game suspension by the league for his dangerous foul on Magnolia's Zavier Lucero exactly a week ago.
CJ Cansino, Chris Banchero, Raymar Jose, Brandon Bates and even Alvin Pasaol also did their part as the defending champion improved to a 4-5 record and got back on track following back-to-back losses to TNT and Magnolia.
Meralco coach Luigi Trillo echoed the words of active consultant Nenad Vucinic following the win that gave their side a clearer shot at advancing to the quarterfinals following the 11-game eliminations.
"Coach 'Nad was saying at halftime, this is probably the first time we played with that sense of urgency, probably our best defense so far in terms of being locked in," related Trillo.
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"Our last two games we played quality teams, TNT, Magnolia, it could go either way. We weren't that bad. It's just in the end that they got some separation on us," added Trillo. "But proud of the way these guys did it tonight."
The Bolts were really locked in and in the end were plus-20 in rebounds, plus-26 in inside points, and also emerged with 12 more assists following a game they led by as much as 22 points twice, the last at 103-81.
"You look at rebounding, the last two games we lost, we didn't win the rebounds. This game, 62-42. We also shared the ball, 24 assists," noted Trillo. "Good sign. It's nice to see the guys play together."
With Pasaol tallying eight rebounds, and Newsome, Banchero and Bates snaring seven each, Meralco was also able to hardly feel the absence of Hodge, who is a formidable inside presence on both ends.
"I think for us we just realized na si Cliff kasi ang backbone namin sa depensa and it's not gonna be one guy but several guys," said Trillo. "Everybody chipped in today. We didn't see any heads down, we didn't see any quit. I think the psyche of the boys was much better in this game."
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Not so for Blackwater, more so now that is in more dire straits.
Christian David led all scorers and rebounders with 24 and 10 and Sedrick Barefield tallied 23 points, but Blackwater as a team went 31-of-79 from the field and also missed a total 11 free throws that enabled Meralco to take control of the game right in the opening quarter.
Now with a 1-5 record, the Bossing are now faced with the tough task of winning a vast majority of their five remaining games to entertain hopes of at least playing off for a quarterfinals slot. (NC)
