MERALCO held its ground at crunchtime to repulse Rain or Shine 93-88 yesterday and get back on track in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Despite a dismal first half, Tony Bishop still finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds and got plenty of help from his local teammates as the Bolts bounced back from a sorry loss while improving their record to 5-1.
Allein Maliksi was foremost among those who helped the Panamanian import, scattering 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, while Bong Quinto and Chris Banchero each delivered a clutch basket that helped keep Meralco’s head above water.
Quinto’s turnaround jumper gave the Bolts their biggest lead of the game at 89-80 while Banchero pounced on a crucial lapse in the Elasto Painters’ defense to turn Quinto’s inbound pass into a layup that made it a 92-88 count, only 18.6 ticks left.
Rain or Shine dropped its second consecutive game and slipped to 3-5, failing to hang on to a 62-53 lead in the third quarter.
Some adjustments made by his team keyed the victory, according to Meralco coach Norman Black.
“We were having a hard time getting into a rhythm, offensively,” he said. “We talked about it at halftime, that we’re just gonna focus on defense. Not worry about the offense anymore. We’d find ways to score but we’re gonna defend the other side. I think that’s the reason we got the win.”
That became evident starting at the midway point of the third period and well into the final frame with the Bolts’ main focus on E-Painters import Henry Walker.
The former NBA campaigner notched 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists but was harassed into committing seven turnovers and scoring just four points in the final frame.
Andrei Caracut tried to spark Rain or Shine’s flagging offense with seven straight points and Rey Nambatac and Walker combined for four straight points that brought them within 86-89, but that was the closest the E-Painters would get in the last 1:22 of play.
Raymond Almazan also played a vital role as he scored 17 points on top of seven rebounds that fueled the Meralco defense.
“Of course, when you play defense, you also have to get the rebounds so we did a pretty good job of controlling the boards in the second half,” said Black.
The loss, coming on the heels of its 74-80 defeat to Alaska last Thursday, means Rain or Shine now needs to win all its remaining games against NLEX, San Miguel Beer and Ginebra to fan hopes of making it to the next round.
