Bolts bank on resiliency in overcoming odds vs Gin Kings

MANILA, Philippines -- With their backs against the wall, the Meralco Bolts relied on resiliency as they won back-to-back games against Barangay Ginebra to barge into their first PBA Philippine Cup finals.

Down 3-2 in the All-Filipino conference's semifinal series, the Bolts grinded their way to win Game 6 and locked up on defense in Game 7 to set the championship round matchup against the San Miguel Beermen.

Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo said that despite overwhelming odds, his squad stuck to its goal and just fought for their seat in the finals.

"This is big for us. Big. A series, seven games, could have gone either way. Nobody's being outcoached here, nobody was swept, came down to this last game," he told reporters on Friday after their 78-69 win.

"A lot of belief and resilience here. I mean, you're down 3-2, I don't think a lot of teams come back from 3-2. Percentages, maybe about less than 30%, 25% right. But this is big for the organization," he added.

Before Friday's game, Ginebra head coach Tim Cone has not lost a Game 7 since the 2012 Governors' Cup finals, when he was still with the B-Meg Llamados, PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III said.

This streak was snapped, as the Bolts also bagged their first-ever Game 7 win.

"At Meralco, we have a lot of pride in what we do. We're going to savor this."

Aside from the players, Trillo also tipped his hat to active consultant Nenad Vucinic, who he described as "the captain of our ship."

"He did a lot of things in this series to bring out the best out of the guys. He gave a lot of coaching," the coach stressed.

"I thought they guys were poised, and like you said, we beat them back-to-back now. So that's something to be proud about. But with that being said, you know we just made the finals. We gotta put our focus now on the finals."

Their best-of-seven collision with the mighty Beermen will tip off on Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.