Meralco’s Allein Maliski. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Meralco sent Blackwater to a league-worst 19th straight loss with a tough 104-97 win in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup Saturday at DHVSU Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
The Bossing ended their campaign winless at 0-11 and have now surpassed the 18 straight defeats logged by Presto in the 1980 season.
The Bolts, meanwhile, strengthened their bid for a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals as they improved to 7-2 at the second seed.
Blackwater, though, did not go down without a fight as it outscored Meralco 26-19 in the fourth with an eagerness to put a stop to its disastrous slide.
After trailing 98-87 midway through the fourth, the Bossing rallied back and made it a five-point game, 100-95, after Simon Enciso’s step-back corner three with 1:49 to play.
Anjo Caram, however, restored order for the Bolts with a counter three 25 seconds later.
Maliksi to Quinto on the fastbreak! #PBAiTuloyAngLaban pic.twitter.com/FLOeFQJ2kw
— PBA (@pbaconnect) September 18, 2021
“We did not play as well in the second half but we did well enough to win the game and at this point in the season that’s all that really matters, get as many wins as possible,” said Bolts head coach Norman Black whose team held a 61-38 lead at the end of the first half.
“We still have some more games coming up so winning this game is very important for us even though it wasn’t very pretty in the second half but I’ll take it.”
Allein Maliksi finished with a game-high 21 points with 10 rebounds to lead Meralco while Raymond Almazan added 15 points, 17 boards, and three blocks.
Richard Escoto, Niño Canaleta, and Mike Tolomia had 15 points apiece to lead the Bossing.