MANILA, Philippines–Breaking away in a crucial span connecting the final two quarters last night, Meralco ended Purefoods’ PBA Philippine Cup reign with a 77-65 victory to march into the second phase of the quarterfinals at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
The Bolts wriggled out of a 44-all game with 4:54 left in the third quarter, coming up with an 8-0 spurt that had Meralco scampering away for good and eventually beating the Purefoods franchise for the first time in a playoff series.
Meralco would eventually close out the third period sitting on a 56-48 bubble, which the Bolts bloated to 65-50 in just over the first three minutes of the fourth after holding the Star Hotshots to just a James Yap jumper in that span.
Meralco thus advanced into another KO game, this time against Alaska, which defeated the NLEX Road Warriors, 82-78, in another defense-oriented game earlier. That game is set Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“This is a huge win for the Meralco program, this is something we’ve been really trying to accomplish,” said coach Norman Black, who lost in three series to San Mig Coffee and coach Tim Cone in the Mixers’ Grand Slam run last season.
The Meralco defense held the Hotshots to their conference-low output by bottling up Purefoods’ outside gunners.
Not helping Purefoods’ cause was its pathetic stint from the free throw line with the Hotshots going 16-for-30. Yap, the former two-time MVP, underscored their struggles from the stripe with a 1-for-7 performance.
Jared Dillinger paced the Bolts with 14 points and had six rebounds to win Player of the Game honors, but it was reserve center James Sena who had a great offensive night with 11 markers.
Six of those Sena points came after that 44-all tie as he hit two straight buckets to touch off the spurt before ending the third period with a tight jumper off Marc Pingris with 54.8 seconds left for that eight-point lead.
Meanwhile, fourth-ranked Talk ‘N Text, which Black handled last year, and No. 5 Barangay Ginebra tangle with separate lower-ranked foes on Friday seeking victories that would shove them to the next phase of the quarterfinals.
THE SCORES:
Second Game
MERALCO 77—Dillinger 14, Hodge 12, Cortez 11, Sena 11, Wilson 8, Hugnatan 7, Buenafe 4, Caram 4, David 4, Anthony 2, Ildefonso 0, Ferriols 0, Guevarra 0, Macapagal 0.P
PUREFOODS 65—Devance 21, Yap 14, Barroca 12, Taha 7, Simon 5, Pingris 5, Melton 1, Alvarez 0, Pennisi 0, Reavis 0, Mallari 0, Gaco 0, Maliksi 0, Allado 0.
Quarters: 18-19, 35-30, 56-48, 77-65