PBA: Bolts put away undermanned Elite

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Meralco needed a strong fourth quarter to put away a Blackwater side missing three key players including its import, 105-90, in the 2016 PBA Governors’ Cup Wednesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Allen Durham chalked up another huge night with 30 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists for the Bolts, who bounced back from a double-overtime loss to the GlobalPort Batang Pier last Sunday.

“My experience over the years made me a little bit worried for this game. The team is missing a lot of key players and they’re playing without an import,” said Meralco head coach Norman Black after his squad rose to 4-3.

The Elite played minus their best local big man in JP Erram (knee), starting point guard Mike Cortez (calf) and reinforcement Eric Dawson (back) and yet gave the Bolts quite a fight.

“I give a lot of credit to Blackwater for playing hard and tough they gave us a good challenge tonight,” Black said. This was a big win for us tonight. we had a lot contributions from a lot of players led by Allen Durham once again.

Rookie Art dela Cruz led Blackwater with 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field. The Elite absorbed their fourth straight defeat to drop at the bottom of the standings at 1-5.