Meralco shoots down SMB, draws first blood

MANILA, Philippines — Meralco got its act together in a strong second half effort to repulse San Miguel Beer, 93-86 to draw first blood in their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven title series on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome scorer 18 points apiece, as the Meralco duo helped the Bolts outscore the Beermen, 49-35 in the final two periods to pull off the series-opening win.

The win marked the second straight time Meralco beat SMB this conference, following its 95-92 win at the close of the elimination round in Batangas.

«They beat us in a lot of categories in the first half, then we came out in the seconds half and were able to do the game plan that we wanted to do,» said Trillo after the game.

«We did a better job in the second half, and overall, it's a team effort in which everyone was chipping in,» he added, noting how his bigs helped contain SMB star center June Mar Fajardo.

The 6-10 Fajardo still led the Beermen with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but turned the ball over six times.

Allein Maliksi chipped in 15 while Cliff Hodge had 15 rebounds along with seven markers.

CJ Perez scored 20 while Marcio Lassiter added 16 in a losing effort for the Beermen.