MERALCO displayed the poise it lacked the last time out and beat Barangay Ginebra, 108-104, Friday to force a deciding game in their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals duel at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Chris Newsome scored 24 points, Akil Mitchell also bucked foul trouble to finish with a triple-double and the other Bolts also stepped up as they rebounded from a sorry 92-100 loss in the best-of-three series' opener just last Wednesday.
The duel shifts to the Ynares Center in Antipolo Sunday to decide which team gets to face off with early qualifier NorthPort in the best-of-seven semifinals.
"Remember in Game 1 we were up by two with about six minutes to go and you credit Ginebra. They showed poise, they played good offense, good defense. We lost and they won," said Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo.
"This is a highly emotional game, parehong koponan wants to win. You get carried away with some of the calls so it's okay to complain, both sides are complaining. But we need our boys to keep their focus in," added Trillo. "I thought we did a good job with that."
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The victory also snapped Meralco's five-game losing streak against Ginebra and was helped along by Cliff Hodge adding 17 points and Jansen Rios outdoing himself with 15 points in complementing Mitchell's 13 points, 17 rebounds and 10 dimes in leading two other Bolts in double figures.
It didn't hurt Meralco either that Ginebra muffed 14 of the 42 free throws awarded it, as well as the Bolts' 51-38 domination off the boards and a plus-12 advantage in points in the paint.
"Whatever way we got it, whatever it takes to get this win, we did that," said Trillo before adding: "We haven't done anything now. We have to focus on one more game to get it done."
Despite the glaring disparity in some of the statistics, Ginebra still managed to keep the game close and even got off an 8-2 surge to pull within 104-108, still 34.9 seconds to go.
More anxious moments were had by Trillo and the rest of the Bolts when they committed a 24-second violation that gave back possession to the Gin Kings with still 10.6 seconds left.
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Good thing Meralco's defense held, leaving RJ Abarrientos to put up - and miss - a contested four-pointer in the game's last offensive thrust.
For naught went Justine Brownlee's 36 points as well as Scottie Thompson's 21 on top of nine boards. Abarrientos (10 points) and Japeth Aguilar (10) were the only other Ginebra players in double digits as coach Tim Cone opted for an eight-man rotation for the second straight game.(NC)
The Scores :
MERALCO 108 - Newsome 24, Hodge 17, Rios 15, Quinto 14, Mitchell 13, Banchero 13, Black 8, Almazan 2, Cansino 2, Bates 0, Pascual 0, Caram 0.
GINEBRA 103 - Brownlee 36, Thompson 21, Abarrientos 12, J.Aguilar 10, Rosario 9, Malonzo 9, Ahanmisi 2.
QUARTERS: 26-25, 58-53, 85-81, 108-104
