Bolts hold down Mixers, tie series

WITH a defensive mentality that didn’t wane all game, Meralco tripped San Mig Coffee, 73-69, last night to square their PBA Governors’ Cup Final Four series at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Bolts made the Mixers bleed for every shot they took and held the star-studded San Mig crew to its tournament-low output to make this series a best-of-three and grab a psychological edge heading into the crucial third game tomorrow.

And Meralco got an all-around boost from the comebacking Jared Dillinger, who played his second game in more than five months and helped the Bolts on both ends immensely.

Dillinger, who is coming back from a hip injury sustained in a car accident, had a hand in the first two Meralco baskets of the fourth quarter and then scored on a running jumper off the glass that gave the Bolts a 65-56 lead.

The winner of this series will face the survivor of the Petron Blaze-Rain of Shine match-up in a best-of-seven championship playoff.

The Boosters currently lead that one, 1-0, and will be looking  to bury the Elasto Painters in an 0-2 hole at 7:15 p.m. today as action shifts to Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

“We prepared for a situation like this,” Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio told reporters, referring to the defensive complexion that the series has taken. “Limiting them (Mixers) to 69 (points) speaks of the desire of this team. It’s going to get harder from hereon.

“I think there will be no shift in philosophy of both teams,” he continued. “Both teams just like to play defense.”

Mario West scored 17 points but had an atrocious 8-of-36 clip from the field, a testament to how San Mig also challenged practically every shot he took.

Marqus Blakely came back strong from a three-point first half effort to shoot 24, but he was a paltry 12-of-26 clip from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, Petron Blaze coach Gee Abanilla more or less bared his plans for Game 2 against defending champion Rain or Shine.

“We need the locals to step up more,” Abanilla said Monday night, moments after going through the wringer in winning the series opener, when import Elijah Millsap churned out a PBA career game and bailed the Boosters out.

“In our past won games, there were five to six locals in double figures. We need to get back to that,” added Abanilla “That’s the adjustment that we need to make.”

Guiao, on the other hand, didn’t actually mind the way he lost Game 1, saying that, if at all, the close setback made it look like Petron is “not invincible.”

“There were more positives than negatives for us out there tonight,” Guiao said on his way to the car at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “Going into the last two minutes, we were in the game. Second, even if we lost, there’s a feeling in the team that Petron is beatable.”

The scores:

MERALCO 73—West 17, Hugnatan 15, Hodge 12, Salvacion 12, Dillinger 10, Wilson 5, Reyes 2, Ross 0, Cardona 0, Cortez 0.

SAN MIG COFFEE 69—Blakely 24, Yap 13, De Ocampo 10, Reavis 9, Mallari 4, Barroca 4, Simon 3, Najorda 2, Ponferrada 0, Gaco 0, Devance 0, Pingris 0.

Quarters: 19-8, 34-30, 56-50, 73-69