Meralco notches second win in a row at expense of Kia

PJ Ramos of KIA (light) vs Reynel Hugnatan of Meralco (dark). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines—Cranking up their voltage, the Meralco Bolts made a tragic comedy out of the Kia Carnival, 90-80, to notch their second win in a row to start their PBA Commissioner’s Cup in a good note Friday evening at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Gary David was on hand to spoil the monster game of PJ Ramos who had a preposterous 34-point 21-rebound output.

El Granada removed his pin and nailed a go-ahead three-pointer with 24 seconds remaining to put Meralco ahead 88-78 and put the dagger to the hearts of the Carnival.

Bolts head coach Norman Black praised his team’s effort after the break which saw them outgun and outsmart the Carnival in every possible way.

He pointed out David as the one who sparked them in the latter half.

“We did a good job after halftime,” Black said whose team now has a 2-0 record and is sitting atop the league standings. “Gary was very consistent.”

When Kia cut Meralco’s lead to one, 69-68, in the fourth, David was once more on it to put some distance with a booming triple to make it a two-possession game, 72-68.

David led Meralco with 25 points while import Joshua Davis had his own double-double of 19 points and 19 rebounds to go along with seven steals.

The scores:

MERALCO 90—David 25, Davis 19, Reyes 16, Anthony 6, Ildefonso 6, Hugnatan 6, Hodge 4, Wilson 4, Ferriols 4, Atkins 0, Cortez 0, Buenafe 0, Sena 0.

KIA 80—Ramos 34, Buensuceso 11, Poligrates 6, Webb 6, Cawaling 5, Yee 5, Pascual 4, Ighalo 4, Revilla 3, Burtscher 2, Thiele 0, Padilla 0.

Quarterscores: 12-18, 36-38, 62-56, 90-80