Meralco’s Ranidel De Ocampo eyes the basket off the double team of Star’s PJ Simon and Marc Pingris at the start of their semifinal duel on Sunday in Biñan, Laguna. —PBA IMAGES
BIÑAN, Laguna—Jared Dillinger knew that winning the big games means taking the big shots.
On Sunday night, the Filipino-American walked the talk as he steered Meralco to a 72-66 win over Star in Game 1 of their PBA Governors Cup best-of-five semifinals series at Alonte Sports Complex here.
Dillinger scored eight of his 15 points in the last three minutes, including the game-tying triple with one minute and 42 seconds left. He followed it up with a barreling drive to hand Meralco the lead for good.
“Well you know in the playoffs it’s about taking those big shots,” said Dillinger, who also had five assists for the Bolts who were behind, 7-21, after the first quarter.
The Bolts clamped down on the Hotshots, denying them a basket in the final four minutes to score the win and have a morale-boosting lead in the series which will resume on Tuesday in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
But until the final three minutes, Meralco was groping in the dark against Star’s defense that limited the Bolts’ scoring opportunities.
“We got banged up a little because it’s our fifth game in a week,” said Dillinger.
That busy schedule helped the Bolts keep the momentum going, especially after a scrambling win over Blackwater in the quarterfinals.
“We put that D (defense) on them tonight,” added Dillinger. “The ability to give out the D was the key for us.”
After Lee hit a twinner for a 66-57 lead, that “D” held up until the end.
Star, despite its array of shooters, failed to take a single shot except for Mark Barocca’s miss in the last 1:16.
It also helped that Meralco import Allen Durham came back from ankle injury to score 23 points and grab 23 rebounds.
Ginebra San Miguel and Talk ‘N Text begin their own series at 7 p.m. on Monday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
MERALCO 72—Durham 23, Dillinger 15, Amer 10, Newsome 7, De Ocampo 5, Hodge 5, Lanete 4, Hugnatan 3, Caram 0, Nabong 0, Tolomia 0.
STAR 66—Jalalon 15, Barroca 11, Lee 11, Sangalang 9, Acox 7, Simon 6, Pingris 4, Brondial 2, Reavis 1, Dela Rosa 0, Melton 0, Ramos 0.
Quarters: 7-21, 32-36, 47-53, 72-66