MANILA, Philippines—With A sterling defensive effort and Sol Mercado returning to assume an old role, Meralco pricked Petron Blaze’s bubble Sunday night to muddle up the PBA Philippine Cup leaderboard.
Mercado hit clutch baskets on the way to a team-high 16 points and the B-Boys held the ultra-talented Boosters to their lowest output of the season in an 80-70 victory before a sizeable Sunday crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Our battlecry going into this game was that we want to be the best,” a proud Meralco coach, Ryan Gregorio said. “And in order to be the best, I told my players that we have to beat the best.”
“Defense will keep our boat afloat,” Gregorio, never at a loss for words, continued. “And limiting such a strong offensive team like Petron to 70 (points), I think we deserve to win this one.”
Asi Taulava, now slow-footed but never lacking in competitive fire, also hit six clutch points in the fourth period to help the B-Boys rise to 3-2 overall and deal the Boosters their first loss of the season in four games.
Rain or Shine reiterated its readiness to go all the way while further emphasizing Alaska’s rotten form with a 120-84 rout in the second game that, coupled with Petron’s loss, gave the Elasto Painters the solo lead.
The Painters were in command all night, getting twin digit production from four players led by Jeff Chan’s 20 as Rain or Shine scored the most lopsided rout of the young tournament to improve to 4-1.
For Alaska, it was a truly ugly loss and the Aces, listed as one of the favorites before the start of the season, took a fourth straight loss.
It was the worst loss for the Alaska franchise since the 1992 Third Conference, when the then Milkmen lost to Shell, 62-94.
The scores:
First Game
MERALCO 80—Mercado 16, Espinas 14, Lanete 9, taulava 8, Isip 7, Faundo 6, Macapagal 6, Omolon 6, Borboran 5, Yee 3, Ballesteros 0.
PETRON BLAZE 70—Santos 17, Lutz 16, Yeo 11, Miranda 7, Cabagnot 6, Ildefonso 6, Agustin 3, Baclao 2, Sharma 2, Guevarra 0, Reyes 0.
Quarters: 18-17, 36-30, 58-49, 80-70
Second Game
RAIN OR SHINE 120—Chan 20, Quinahan 19, Buenafe 17, Rodriguez 16, Norwood 9, Arana 9, Cruz 7, Lee 5, Ibanes 5, Uyloan 4, Matias 3, Jaime 3, Belga 3.
ALASKA 84—Tenorio 20, Cablay 15, Baguio 13, Baracael 8, Dela Cruz 8, Thoss 7, Custodio 5, Reys 4, Salamat 3, Bugia 1, Mepana 0, Thiele 0, Eman 0.
Quarters: 32-18, 53-45, 81-62, 120-84