Meralco steals one from Star Hotshots in PBA Gov’s Cup thriller

Gary David vs Marc Barroca. PBA IMAGES

It was several acts of thievery that gave Meralco a much-needed win over Star Hotshots, 83-81, in the PBA Governor’s Cup Sunday evening at Cuneta Astrodome.

Star Hotshots had a 77-75 lead with 4:04 remaining in the fourth but two straight steals in the ensuing plays sparked the Bolts to the lead.

Gary David picked off Marqus Blakely’s pass and ran off for a layup to tie the game at 77-77 at the 3:22 mark then Meralco import Andre Emmett came ran away for a fastbreak layup off another Bolts steal to give them a 79-77 a 32 seconds after.

Meralco is now at the .500 mark at 2-2.

Bolts import Norman Black said his team relied on its defensive patterns to stop the Hotshots’ versatile offense.

“It’s a really big defensive effort for us today,” Black said. “We committed ourselves to playing defense and that made the big difference tonight.”

Veteran Danny Ildefonso scored big with a quick layup with 1:08 left in the fourth to set the final score, 83-81.

A glimmer of hope happened for the Hotshots when Emmett turned the ball over with five seconds remaining in the fourth after Marc Pingris and Joe Devamce hounded him in the sidelines.

Marqus Blakely, however, couldn’t sink a potential game-winning three.

“That’s what we really have to do. We have to play as a team if we want to have success in this conference.”

Meralco did play magnificent team defense, forcing the Hotshots to 17 turnovers while coming away with nine steals.

Emmett put up 37 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, and five steals for the Bolts while Asian import Seiya Ando added 11 points.

Blakely had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Hotshots but he also gave away 10 turnovers.

Devance and Alex Mallari added a combined 28 points for the 1-2 Hotshots. CC