Bolts weather Nocum in OT to escape Elasto Painters

MANILA, Philippines -- The Meralco Bolts thwarted a furious personal rally by Adrian Nocum to secure a 121-117 victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the PBA Philippine Cup Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Nocum scored 13 points in the overtime period, 11 coming in the final minute, but it was not enough to complete the Rain or Shine comeback.

With the game tied at 102 at the end of regulation, Bong Quinto hit a big 3-pointer to start off the overtime period with Meralco ahead, 105-102.

Rain or Shine's Beau Belga then answered with a transition layup to cut the lead to one, 104-105.

The Bolts unleashed a 10-2 run to push the lead to nine, 115-106, capped by a technical free throw by Allein Maliksi with less than a minute remaining.

Nocum then tried to single-handedly will Rain or Shine back, unleashing a personal 6-2 run to inch closer, 116-112.

A pair of free throws by Anjo Caram put the lead back to a six-point cushion, 118-112, with 36 seconds remaining.

Nocum and Maliksi traded layups, but the former made a three-point play with 14 seconds remaining to cut the lead to just three, 120-117.

A split from the line by Maliksi with seven ticks left iced the game. Belga attempted a trey on the other end, but it did not connect.

Meralco led by as much as 14 points, 69-55, in the third quarter with a layup by Chris Newsome.

Slowly, Rain or Shine cut the lead to just three, 80-77, with a 22-11 run capped by a Keith Datu layup.

The game then turned to a see-saw battle with the Elasto Painters leading by two, 100-98, with 2:32 left in regulation.

On the other end, Torres made a big 3-pointer to grab the lead anew.

A pair of free throws by Santi Santillan put Rain or Shine ahead by one, 102-101, and a split from the line by Quinto tied the game up.

Andrei Caracut, Jansen Rios and Allein Maliksi missed game-winning attempts, necessitating overtime.

Maliksi led the way for Meralco with 26 points and seven boards off the bench.

Torres, Quinto, Cliff Hodge and Newsome had 16 markers apiece.

Newsome and Hodge tallied 11 and 10 rebounds apiece, while Torres pulled down nine boards.

Nocum spearheaded Rain or Shine with 29 points, five rebounds and four steals.