Meralco import Allen Durham. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
BOCAUE — Allen Durham couldn’t help but vent his ire on the referees after Meralco’s 85-74 defeat to Ginebra in Game 5 of the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.
“I think down the stretch, officiating was really bad,” Durham said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I mean, I’m not gonna blame it on the officials, we had our part too, but you can’t call a finals game like that.”
Trailing, 70-74, going into the final six minutes of the game, the Bolts were limited to just one field goal as the Gin Kings finished the game off with an 11-2 spurt to run away with the victory.
Durham, the back-to-back Best Import, tried his earnest to keep the Bolts fighting, unloading 27 points, 19 rebounds, five assists, and three steals, but failed to get much support from his teammates.
Durham, though, admitted Meralco dug its own hole after falling to an 18-point deficit in the first half.
“It was tough. They put us in a hole early. We didn’t really to fight back because we got ourselves back in the game, but we can’t have it like that on Wednesday,” he said.
The Bolts anticipated a furious rally from the Gin Kings from the get-go, but still failed to match up as the defending champions ran to a 33-15 deficit.
Meralco got its act together in the second half only to falter again late.
“We knew they’ll come out and attack us really hard and everything like that. In the beginning, we didn’t react, but in the third quarter, we were right there. They just pulled away in the last few minutes,” he said.
“I think we just got to hit a couple of more shots, preferably not play 5-against-8 with the officiating, and we just got to play better. Way too many players on the other side got to double figures and we can’t beat them like that,” he said.