Bolts eyeing finals return
Game Today (Batangas City Coliseum) 7 p.m. – Ginebra vs TNT KaTropa Game Tomorrow (Smart Araneta Coliseum) 7 p.m. – Meralco vs Star
STA. ROSA, Laguna – The Meralco Bolts sustained a hotshooting start while leaving the Star Hotshots bleeding for their points and cruised to a 98-74 victory last night that moved them within earshot of a return trip to the finals in the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals at the City of Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex here.
Meralco made nine of its first 13 shots on its way to taking a 30-11 first quarter lead before continuing the onslaught in the second and third that saw the Bolts extend the margin to 30 twice on their way to a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
The Bolts also left the Hotshots cold for most of the way, forcing them to play catch up until the final minutes of the contest when the outcome had already been decided.
Star missed 12 of its first 16 attempts from the field, a lackluster start that the team failed to recover.
Import Allen Durham had 18 points, 24 rebounds, five assists and three blocks for Meralco, which can secure a second straight finals appearance in the same conference with a victory tomorrow night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
“We did a good job sustaining our effort from start to finish. We executed very well and we didn’t get hit right in the face like in the last game,” said Bolts coach Norman Black, whose team came from behind to steal Game 1, 7266, Sunday at the Alonte Sports Arena in nearby Biñan.
Jared Dillinger hit six of Meralco’s 14 triples on his way to 18 points, Baser Amer had 16 points and eight assists and Ranidel de Ocampo also made 18 in his best scoring output since joining the team in a three-team trade from TNT KaTropa.
Meralco’s near-perfect performance overshadowed what occurred before tipoff when team officials suspended center Kelly Nabong indefinitely for his spat with assistant coach Jimmy Alapag late in Game 1.
Mark Barroca topscored with 16 points for the Hotshots, who played sans guard Paul Lee for majority of the contest hurting his left knee – the same injury that forced him to miss most of last season when he was with former team Rain or Shine.
Lee played almost four minutes – all in the first quarter, failing to score before spending the rest of the evening on the end of the bench when he couldn’t tolerate the pain. Lee later said he didn’t participate in Monday’s practice session after re-injuring the knee in Game 1.
Meanwhile, defending champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel attempts to gain a commanding 2-0 lead on TNT KaTropa the hard way as their best-of-five semifinal series heads further south tonight at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Ginebra put to rest its lopsided defeat against TNT in the elimination round by winning in similar fashion – a 121-94 rout two nights ago at the Smart Araneta Coliseum behind an all-around performance by almost every player coach Tim Cone inserted.
Cone, however, sees that victory, which avenged the 121-92 loss to the KaTropa last Sept. 23, as both a positive and negative heading into the 7 p.m. match.
“In one way, we’re happy that we’re able to play like this and be able to beat them the way we did,” Cone said. “On the other hand, we just filled their back with a whole bunch of motivation going into Game 2. So there’s always a positive and a negative to blowouts in a series.”
MERALCO 98 – Durham 18, De Ocampo 18, Dillinger 18, Amer 16, Newsome 10, Hodge 9, Tolomia 7, Faundo 2, Lanete 0, Caram 0, Sedurifa 0, Yeo 0.
STAR 74 – Barroca 16, Abundo 14, Acox 9, Ramos 8, Sangalang 6, Melton 5, Pingris 5, Reavis 4, De la Rosa 4, Brondial 3, Jalalon 0, Gamalinda 0, Simon 0, Lee 0, Pascual 0.
Quarters: 30-11; 53-32; 78-48; 98-74.