Meralco broke away from Barako Bull early and stormed to an 86-68 Governors’ Cup victory yesterday at Smart Araneta Coliseum that shoved the Bolts in the PBA Final Four for the first time in franchise history.
Mario West scattered 25 points and Reynel Hugnatan—who ditched his headband in favor of Power Puff Girls-inspired pigtails to hold his long locks—had 18 points and 12 boards in the rousing win.
The win set the Bolts up to a best-of-five clash with the winner of the San Mig Coffee-Alaska quarterfinal pairing, which went into a do-or-die game after the Aces scored a 112-105 victory later in the night.
Alaska rallied from 12 points down in the fourth period behind Cyrus Baguio before the rest of the gang took turns in hurting the Mixers in the stretch after Baguio stepped out with 1:56 left because of fouls.
Four players finished in twin digits for Meralco, but what clinched the win in an emphatic way was the fashion in which the Bolts shut down Mike Singletary and the entire Barako Bull offense.
The Bolts held Singletary to a paltry nine points, giving the Barako Bull import, who came into the game averaging 36 points on close to 24 attempts from the field, just 10 looks at the basket.
“It is really our defense,” Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio said. “It made our game a lot easier because of the way we limited Singletary to nine points. Our defense held up tremendously tonight.”
Gregorio first gave credit to the multi-titled Jong Uichico for preparing the defensive game plan before praising West later on.
Meralco starved the Energy to 27 first half points and took a 17-point lead into the third.
It was the worst game that Singletary played, as Meralco took him out of Barako Bull’s offensive flow with impunity that he was a non-factor from the second quarter on.
Jared Dillinger saw action for the first time with his new team after a car accident close to five months ago. He sported a full beard and long hair and helped defend against Singletary.
Meanwhile, Ginebra’s LA Tenorio topped the statistical points race for the Best Player of the Conference award, averaging 33.3 SPs to lead Petron’s Arwind Santos (31.1) and Globalport’s Jay Washington (29.4).
The scores:
First Game
MERALCO 86—West 25, Hugnatan 18, Cardona 12, Hodge 10, Wilson 8, Cortez 6, Salvacion 3, Ross 2, Dillinger 2, Sena 0, Timberlake 0, Reyes 0.
BARAKO 68—Buenafe 23, Jensen 10, Singletary 9, Seigle 9, Weinstein 5, Marcelo 2, Intal 2, Macapagal 2, Cruz 2, Villanueva 2, Pennisi 2, Pena 0.
Quarters: 21-15, 44-27, 67-53, 86-68
Second Game
ALASKA 112—McKines 38, Casio 21, Thoss 17, Baguio 17, Espinas 7, Abueva 5, Dela Cruz 4, Jazul 3, Hontiveros 0.
SAN MIG COFFEE 105—Blakely 27, Simon 15, Reavis 12, Yap 11, Pingris 11, Devance 10, Maliksi 8, Barroca 6, Mallari 5.
Quarters: 30-21, 59-58, 81-89, 112-105