Meralco pulls SMB plug

MANILA, Philippines — Meralco succeeded where 10 others failed the whole PBA Philippine Cup elims: Stop the San Miguel Beer juggernaut.

And as fitting reward for toppling the erstwhile unbeaten Beermen, 95-92, in last night’s road game at the Batangas City Coliseum, the gutsy Bolts joined the slow march to the quarterfinals.

Cliff Hodge punched in 20 points to go with 13 rebounds and two blocks while Allein Maliksi and Chris Newsome rifled in 19 and 17, respectively, to lead Meralco to its playoffs-clinching sixth win in 11 games.

As it secured a place in the best-of-three quarters, Meralco forced the Beermen to settle for a 10-1 card, still good for No. 1 and twice-to-beat advantage.

The Bolts’ entry to the Last-8 alongside SMB, No. 2 Ginebra (7-3), Magnolia (6-4) and Rain or Shine (6-5) left only three more slots available. TNT (5-5), NLEX (5-5), Terrafirma (5-6) and NorthPort (5-6) are fighting for those seats.

Meanwhile, Blackwater hammered out a 102-83 romp over Phoenix at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City to exit the tournament on a winning note at 4-7.