Meralco survives Phoenix
MANILA, Philippines — In a marathon PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinal showdown, fifth-seeded Meralco generated enough power to pull through and drag No. 4 Phoenix to a sudden death Relying on heart and grit despite trailing by 12 in the fourth, the Bolts forced Phoenix to a stalemate after regulation then outsteadied the Fuel Masters in 15 additional minutes to prevail, 116-107, last night at the PhilSports Arena.
Chris Newsome set the stage for OT with a buzzer-beating trey then Bong Quinto sent it to a second extra time with a big bucket before the duo teamed up for a 10-0 start in the extension No. 3 to finally seal it.
Luigi Trillo’s fired-up charges have now given themselves an opportunity to steal a semis ticket from twice-to-beat Phoenix in their one-game rematch on Sunday.
“I just don’t know how we did that, three overtimes,” said Trillo. “We had a lot of heroes on the team who hit big shots and we had six players in double figures. Sa amin, whatever it takes (to win).”
Cliff Hodge topscored with 20 points plus 10 rebounds before limping out in the first OT. Quinto, stepping up in the absence of Hodge in the stretch, shot 19, including seven in their pullaway in the third OT, in a stretched-out 44 minutes of action.
Aaron Black, import Shonn Miller and Allein Maliksi shot 18 apiece and Newsome had 16 in this draining victory.
“Nagpapasalamat ako sa Panginoon sa strength na binigay niya sa team namin,”said Quinto. “Ibibigay talaga sa sa amin ni Lord basta pagtrabahuhan ang panalo.”
“Shoutout din kay (strength and conditioning) coach Diego (Lozano) kasi hindi namin kakayanin ang three overtimes kung hindi sa training namin.”
The Bolts laid to waste the 24-24 game of Phoenix import Johnathan Williams III, whose 62-minutes, 22-second duty was the third all-time most playing time.
The hot-starting Fuel Masters threatened to blow the Bolts away and take the fast lane to the best-of-five Final Four.
Armed with the win-once incentive, Phoenix seized a 15-point spread in the second canto and kept the Bolts at bay.
