James Yap of Purefoods is harassed by Gary David and Jared Dillinger of Meralco. PBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—And it’s all over.
In just a glimpse, the hopes of the PBA witnessing a second straight Grand Slam went down the drain when the Meralco Bolts sealed the chapter of the Purefoods Hotshots, 77-65, Thursday evening at the Cuneta Astrodome to advance to the next round of the quarterfinals of the PBA Philippine Cup.
Meralco held Purefoods in a vicegrip in the third and fourth quarter that ended the Hotshots’ bid for a fifth straight title.
With the scores tied at 44 apiece, the Bolts then took the momentum with an 8-0 run with James Sena hitting two consecutive jumpers to start the run which gave Meralco a 52-44 bubble as they went for the jugular of Purefoods.
Bolts head coach Norman Black said the win was a “huge” victory for the franchise as they beat the team that has ruled over the league for more than a year.
“This is a huge win for the Meralco program, it is something that we strived to accomplish,” Black said. “It’s just a huge win to beat the defending champions.”
Quickly extinguishing the fire of the Hotshots, Meralco then slashed it right open with a 15-6 run to start the fourth with John Wilson capping it all off to put the boards at 71-54.
With the victory, No. 6-ranked Meralco arranged a knockout match against Alaska for a place in the semifinals.
Jared Dillinger led the four-pronged attack of the Bolts with 14 points while Cliff Hodge, Mike Cortez and Sena adding 12, 11 and 11 respectively.
Joe Devance tried to keep the dream alive for Purefoods with 21 points but it was all for naught as the whole team shot just 22 of 61 from the field including 5 of 26 from deep.
Box scores:
Meralco 77—Dillinger 14, Hodge 12, Cortez 11, Sena 11, Wilson 8, Hugnatan 7, Buenafe 4, Caram 4, David 4, Anthony 2, Macapagal 0.
Purefoods Star 65—Devance 21, Yap 14, Barroca 12, Taha 7, Simon 5, Pingris 5, Melton 1, Pennisi 0, Reavis 0, Mallari 0, Maliksi 0.