Bolts rout Dyip, advance to QF

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TONY Bishop notched his seventh straight double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds in leading Meralco past Terrafirma 107-95 yesterday and into the quarterfinals of the PBA Governors Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Allein Maliksi also had a second straight solid game, this time finishing with 18 points, six assists and four rebounds in leading the Bolts’ local crew who made more than ample contributions in their veritable march to their sixth win in seven games.

“We did not want to stumble again, knowing that the elimination round is coming to an end pretty soon and everybody’s fighting for position,” said Meralco coach Norman Black after his team’s second straight win that came after a shock loss to NorthPort last week.

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After joining early qualifiers Magnolia and NLEX in the eight-team quarterfinals, the second-running Bolts would secure a top four finish and a twice-to-beat advantage in the next round if they rack up more wins in their remaining four elimination round games.

“We wanted to stay in the top four, so we didn’t want to fall today,” stated Black.

The loss was Terrafirma’s second straight, dropping it to a 2-6 slate and now even more hard-pressed to sweep their last three games to entertain hopes of advancing.

Meralco helped put the Dyip in such a dire situation by taking full control of the match as early as the second period before leading by as much as 80-57 and easily dispelling any threat from there.

Antonio Hester’s 23 points and 17 rebounds paced Terrafirma, which failed to bounce back from an endgame collapse against Alaska last Saturday.

Meanwhile, NLEX tries to stretch its winning streak to three and boost its own top four bid when it tangles with a Rain or Shine crew simply aiming to snap out of a two-game slide today at the same hilltop venue.

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