MERALCO showed little ill effects from a long layoff and the absence of a couple of key players, marking its return to PBA Philippine Cup action with a 95-83 beating of Terrafirma yesterday.
Bong Quinto and Anjo Caram stood out the most for coach Norman Black as they alternately took the lead for majority of the game before Reynel Hugnatan and Raymond Almazan joined in a sustained fourth quarter surge that kept the Bolts away from the Dyip’s reach.
In the end, Meralco solidified its hold on second-running spot with a 6-2 card and has the clearest shot to finish at No. 2 at the end of the 11-game eliminations and grab the last win-once advantage in the quarterfinals.
That fact surprised Black as he was expecting his team to be dislodged from its position following their long break since their last game Sept. 3 as some members of the team had to go through the league’s health and safety protocols.
“It just happened that way. I thought that by the time we came back to the games the other teams would be ahead of us,” admitted Black. “But certain teams losing to certain teams kept us in second place. This win today is a big one for us”
The loss, its seventh in 10 games, totally shut the door on Terrafirma’s bid to gain inclusion among the eight teams advancing to the next round.
Aldrech Ramos had 15 points and Joseph Gabayni’s double-double of 14 point and 10 rebounds led the Dyip, who would still try to salvage some pride against Alaska on Sunday.
Terrafirma had its chance to keep alive its hopes of playing off for a quarterfinals slot but blew that after failing to take advantage of Meralco’s acute manpower shortage.
Black was actually assisted in the game by Gene Afable and Patrick Fran and the Bolts also played minus Cliff Hodge and Chris Newsome, who have yet to be cleared by the league.
Starting playmaker Aaron Black also exited the game early after injuring his right hand in a collision with Joseph Gabayni.
Six Bolts scored in double figures, led by Quinto’s 17 and eight rebounds. Caram came off the bench for 13 points, five assists and three steals and the two were largely responsible for their team staying in front.
After a Ramos triple knotted the count at 75-all, Hugnatan completed back-to-back three-point plays to spark a massive 18-4 attack that gave Meralco an unassailable 93-79 spread, only 4:10 to go.
“Tonight, I felt it was more about us. We’re missing two key players because of the health protocols of the PBA. What we talked about… play together and play for one another. That was very important tonight,” said Black.
