MERALCO has finally burst Ginebra’s bubble of invincibility.
The Bolts have toiled long and hard in the past to bring down the Kings, only to falter several times in the playoffs, including four in the Big Dance.
But Meralco finally got the job done last Sunday, fashioning a dramatic 106-104 escape in Game 3 of their best-of-3 quarterfinals duel in the PBA Philippine Cup before a big crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Acting Bolts coach Luigi Trillo, still calling the shots for the team in lieu of coach Norman Black who is still in the United States, heaved a big sigh of relief after his charges pulled off the breakthrough 2-1 series win.
“Just super relieved that we got the monkey off our back. We know Ginebra will be back. We have the highest respect for that organization. We were the whipping boys before with them, we lost five times (in playoff series),” Trillo said.
“I’m just so proud of everybody in this team. We knew they would make a run, we just stuck together,” he added.
Ace guard Chris Newsome echoed Trillo’s sentiments, saying: “This is something that we’ve been looking forward to, and we’ve been working towards for a long time now. We finally got it.”
“It’s nice to have that monkey off our back, and we can finally move forward and enjoy the win.”
The triumph redeemed Meralco from an 87-94 loss to the Kings in Game 2 four days ago and more importantly clinched for the Bolts a best-of-7 semifinals battle with fancied San Miguel Beer.
Game 1 of the semis is set tomorrow at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Defending champion TNT takes on Magnolia in the other race-to-4 series.
Newsome notched a triple double of 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists to power Meralco, while Aaron Black chipped in 17 markers, three boards, and four dimes.
Cliff Hodge also had 13 and 18, while Allein Maliksi, Bong Quinto, Raymond Almazan, and Alvin Pasaol combined for 45 points for the Bolts.
Meralco took a 78-57 spread on a Pasaol basket at the 4:51 mark of the third quarter before Ginebra razed the deficit to 76-85 heading into the final canto.
An LA Tenorio three-pointer gave the Kings a 104-103 buffer, still 1:12 left to play but Almazan boomed in a clutch triple that made it a 106-104 game in the last minute.
After a Japeth Aguilar block on Newsome, reigning MVP Scottie Thompson was called for an offensive foul with 10.3 ticks remaining.
