MERALCO made enough of the right adjustments to beat Alaska 93-81 last night for its first win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart 5G-powered Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.
Allein Maliksi scored 17 points and Baser Amer 15, including eight straight during a key fourth quarter run that enabled the Bolts to pull away from the Aces’ clutches.
Reynel Hugnatan, Aaron Black and Chris Newsome also did their part as Meralco bounced back from a 98-116 shellacking from Phoenix Super LPG last Monday.
“Good feeling to get that first win,” said Bolts coach Norman Black “It takes a little bit of the pressure off the players to get that first win, to get into the win-column, and it also gives us a lot more confidence going to the game Sunday against Ginebra.”
The loss dropped Alaska to the bottom of the standings at 0-2.
Except for some brief instances, the Aces showed little of the tough stance they displayed in a 95-100 loss to TNT also last Monday. But those were too few and far-between.
