ANTIPOLO—Holding it together against a league heavyweight for the first time this conference, Meralco kept its playoff bid alive in the PBA Governors’ Cup by clipping Magnolia, 94-88, on Friday with coach Norman Black admitting that his Bolts still have a lot of work to do to get out of the jam they’re in.
“It’s still a long road, but at least we have a chance,” Black said at the press room of Ynares Center here after their first winning streak of the tournament upped their record to 3-6 (win-loss). They still need to sweep their remaining two games and hope that some of the other teams lose to stay alive.
“We still have to win our last two games to get a tie but this will definitely help our confidence,” added Black.
Interestingly, the Bolts carved out the win in one of Allen Durham’s low-scoring games as the reigning Best Import scored 20 points but got solid backing with four locals shooting twin digits.
Next up for the Bolts will be Rain or Shine, whose playoff chances took a big hit earlier in the night after absorbing a 100-84 loss at the hands of cellar-dwelling Columbian Dyip.
That game is slated Sunday as action returns to Smart Araneta Coliseum even as powerhouses San Miguel Beer and TNT KaTropa clash in a Petron Saturday Special game at Calasiao Sports Complex in Pangasinan, looking for wins that would enhance their chances of gaining a twice-to-beat privilege in the first round of the playoffs.
Tip-off is at 5 p.m. with the Beermen looking for a second straight win and the Texters trying to climb above .500.
The Dyip earned a small measure of pride and dealt Rain or Shine a huge hit in its playoff bid in the PBA Governors’ Cup. At the same time, Columbian coach Johnedel Cardel got the validation he badly needed.
“I felt like giving up already,” Cardel said after leading the Dyip to their first win in the season-closing conference. “I already talked to my boss and I told him that if we don’t win [a game], we can shuffle [the coaching personnel].
“I was ready to accept that,” he said of his talk with board member Bobby Rosales. “I told him that maybe I’m not ready to coach [in the PBA] yet.”
The way he handled the Dyip in a game that was for nothing but respect was remarkable, as Cardel pushed all the right buttons right from the start and in the fourth quarter where they scuttled the Elasto Painters and made the perennial title contenders look like a silly bunch.
It was the first win after nine straight losses for the Dyip, who actually scored a season sweep of the Painters by owning wins over Rain or Shine in each of the three conferences of the season. The win also snapped a 25-game losing streak in this conference.
“I don’t know why that has happened,” Cardel said of the team’s mastery of the formidable Painters for the season. “Suki lang siguro talaga. Ganun lang siguro.”
The loss dropped Rain or Shine to 2-5.