Delroy James steps up for Meralco Bolts. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–Delroy James scored the last six Meralco points and the Bolts hung tough defensively in the stretch on Wednesday night to carve out a 95-91 upset of San Miguel Beer and get to live another day in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Those six points all came from left-handed layups after piercing the meat of the San Miguel defense in the paint, as Meralco booked a playoff for No. 8 against Alaska and eliminated idle Phoenix Pulse.
The Bolts closed out with a 4-7 record, tied with the Aces and the Fuel Masters. But with an inferior quotient, Phoenix bombed out of the race.
San Miguel, the consensus team-to-beat, took its first loss since tapping Chris McCollough and closed out its elimination round schedule with a 5-6 record, and could wind up as the No. 7 seed depending on the result of the second game.
The KO match for No. 8 is set Friday.
POST-GAME INTERVIEW