Newsome, Bolts hope to learn from late game meltdown

Suffering another late game meltdown, Chris Newsome is charging Meralco’s 81-79 loss to Alaska to experience as the team continues to hone its character this 2017 PBA Philippine Cup.

“Lesson learned for us. We’re trying to stay positive about what happened and just learn from it so it doesn’t happen in the playoffs or other crucial situations,” he said.

The Bolts lost hold of a nine-point lead, 77-68, with 3:45 still left on the clock as the Aces rampaged back into the game and pulled off the stunner.

It was also a forgettable game for Meralco as it collectively went on a horrible 5-of-16 clip from the free throw line.

Newsome said that those late game collapse shouldn’t happen again. “Those are opportunities we got to learn from. We got to be able to close out games and step on the gas.”

He also said that the Bolts should work on their defense especially against fancied guards in the same mold of the Aces backcourt.

“They were able to get us in transition. They’re just running the ball up our back and that’s how JVee (Casio) and (RJ) Jazul were able to get a three, and that all happened in transition,” he said. “We got to learn how to get back and locate our men a lot faster.”

With the game over and done with, Newsome could only lick his wounds and focus on the things that Meralco should do to improve its maturity going forward.

“Hopefully, we correct those things and not make the same mistake again,” he said.