Bolts trip Enforcers, get crack at ‘bonus’
Allen Durham delivered just about all the big plays that Meralco needed in the crunch as the Bolts ground out a key 86-83 victory over the Mahindra Enforcers to clinch a crack at a twiceto-beat quarterfinals incentive in the PBA Governors Cup at the MOA Arena last night.
Durham churned out 34 points and 17 rebounds and, most importantly, stood as a solid force as the Bolts withstood the Enforcers’ gallant stand at the finish, carving out the win that forced a tie between the two teams at fourth place at 6-5.
Alaska Milk, Phoenix Petroleum and NLEX are the three other teams with a chance to gain a piece of fourth spot at the close of the elimination round on Sunday.
A three-way or four-way logjam will be resolved by the quotient system, with the two teams with the superior quotients to dispute the No. 4 spot and the twice-to-beat edge in the quarters in a playoff.
Having beaten Phoenix, Alaska, NLEX and Mahindra, the Bolts are assured of figuring in that playoff picture.
“It’s a little bit scary and it’s nice to win the game. Now, we have to wait and sit back to see who we’ll be going to play,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.
“The ball bounced our way tonight and we won the game,” said Black, getting a big relief in checking their back-to-back losses to the San Miguel Beermen and the Star Hotshots.
The Enforcers failed to snap out of their own slump, bungling a third crack at an automatic spot.
But the Bolts walked the tightrope before escaping past the Enforcers.
“Mahindra has really improved this conference. Their coach (Chris Gavina) did a really good job,” said Black whose chargers barely squeezed through in holding the Enforcers scoreless in the last two minutes.
The Bolts forced the Enforcers to commit two errors and miss two fieldgoal attempts in the last 120 seconds.
Durham anchored Meralco’s solid defense and delivered the winning baskets at the crunch.
In a non- bearing game later in the night, tournament leader TNT KaTropa buckled down to work in the second half and charged from a five-point halftime deficit en route to a 115- 105 win over out- of- it- all Star squad. The scores: First Game MERALCO 86 – Durham 34, Dillinger 12, Newsome 10, Hugnatan 9, Alapag 7, Amer 4, Hodge 3, Uyloan 3, Faundo 2, Nabong 2, Al-Hussaini 0.
MAHINDRA 83 – White 27, Ramos 17, Revilla 12, Yee 9, Taha 8, Aguilar 4, Guinto 2, Digregorio 2, Agovida 2, Mandani 0, Webb 0, Galanza 0, Bagatsing 0, Ballesteros 0, De Vera 0. Quarterscores: 25-22, 50-45, 71-62, 86-83 Second Game TROPANG TNT 115 – Fonacier 21, Castro 21, Tautuaa 16, Ammons 14, Rosario 10, Madanly 10, Williams 9, Rosales 7, Reyes 5, De Ocampo 2, Carey 0, Rosser 0.
STAR 105 – Wright 27, Simon 20, Pingris 17, Barroca 10, Maliksi 9, Garcia 8, Pascual 6, Reavis 4, Mallari 4, Brondial 0, Melton 0.
Quarterscores: 27-27, 50-55, 89-83, 115-105