Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Niño Cañaleta showed Blackwater what it let go of as he delivered Meralco a thrilling 103-98 victory in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup Friday at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
Left unsigned in the offseason, the veteran marksman punished his former team and went for 25 points, catching fire from beyond the arc as he shot 5-of-8 from threes on top of eight rebounds and two assists, none bigger than his dagger triple off the glass with 11.3 seconds to play to put the game out of reach, 101-95.
Allein Maliksi kept the Elite’s flickering hopes alive with a three with 2.5 seconds to spare, but Cañaleta once again iced the game as he calmly drained his free throws with 1.3 ticks left.
“I thought KG was exceptional tonight for us, scoring and rebounding. He’s going to be a very good addition to our team,” remarked coach Norman Black.
Baser Amer added 17 markers, 12 dimes, and five boards, Jared Dillinger got 15 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists, and Chris Newsome had 15 markers in the win.
Meralco took hold of the game in the third quarter as Cañaleta caught fire and ignited 19-0 blast to turn a close 50-54 deficit to a 69-54 advantage with 4:01 to play.
The Bolts seemingly were well on their way to an easy victory, taking a 90-71 lead with 8:19 left, but Blackwater made a late 24-8 run to trim the lead down to three, 98-95 with 33.1 seconds left before Cañaleta put the Elite to sleep late.
“I thought we did a good job of recovering from a slow start today, especially in the first half. We did recover a little bit late in the second quarter and it carried over into the second half where we got off to a good start. But the energy that we spent trying to get that big lead really cost us down the stretch because we gave that lead up just as quickly as we got it. We’re lucky that we made some big shots down the stretch,” said Black.
Third overall pick Raymar Jose lived up to his billing as he paced Blackwater with 16 points, six rebounds, and two assists in his PBA debut.
Maliksi also chimed in 16 markers and six boards, while Roi Sumang had 15 points, six rebounds, and three dimes in the loss.
The Scores:
MERALCO 103 – Canaleta 25, Amer 17, Dillinger 15, Newsome 12, Lanete 8, Ballesteros 6, Tolomia 6, Baracael 5, Faundo 4, Hugnatan 3, Caram 2, Salva 0.
BLACKWATER 98 – Jose 16, Maliksi 16, Sumang 15, Belo 13, Erram 11, Cortez 8, Javier 6, DiGregorio 6, Sena 4, Pinto 3, Cruz 0, Banal 0, Marcelo 0.
Quarters: 23-27, 44-44, 77-66, 103-98.