Meralco Bolts’ Aaron Black. –PBA IMAGES
Meralco may not have control of its chances to gain a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup, but coach Norman Black is satisfied that his team remains in the running following a grind-out win on Friday.
“At least we still have a chance,” Black said after the Bolts put up a 132-129 overtime win over the Converge FiberXers in a game that seemed like it went forever at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Marred by a late scuffle that needed cooler heads to prevail, the win enabled the Bolts to climb up to a tie with the FiberXers for fifth at 6-4. But Meralco would need to beat the Phoenix Fuel Masters on Sunday at Philsports Arena in Pasig City to give themselves hope for a top-four finish.
The complications for the Bolts don’t stop there even with a win, as NLEX is ahead of Meralco with its 7-3 record, Ginebra has a 5-2 slate when it faced Phoenix in the nightcap Friday, while San Miguel Beer and TNT, currently in Japan for their East Asia Super League stints, are sitting comfortably with their 7-2 and 8-1 records, respectively.
Free ride for TNT
The only thing that was made certain after the marathon match was that TNT was assured of the first quarterfinal bonus with Meralco’s victory.
Odds do not favor Meralco, which could only focus on getting the job done against Phoenix.
“NLEX has a chance to go further up in the standings, but they have one tough game left,” Black said. “Of course, we are fighting Converge for one of the slots. We have to beat Phoenix to keep ourselves in the running.”
A second straight defeat put the FiberXers, also at 6-4, behind in the chase for the top four with Ginebra next on Sunday at Philsports.
Spoiled night
Converge’s late swoon spoiled a 57-point performance from import Jamaal Franklin, who fouled out in overtime. He also had 14 rebounds and 11 assists to possibly become the first PBA player to have a 50-point triple-double.
It also soured the return of league great Danny Ildefonso, the FiberXers assistant who played four minutes in the first quarter and was still trying to get his playing shape back.
Meralco’s main weapons stepped up, including Allein Maliksi, whose triple with 34 seconds to go in the extra session made it a 130-128 advantage.
But Maliksi was later ejected when he held the neck of Converge’s Barkley Ebona during a confrontation with six seconds to go. Maliksi, who didn’t like Ebona’s flagrant foul 1 which was a clothesline hit, was tossed for a flagrant foul 2 for retaliating.
“If he didn’t do it on purpose [that’s okay], but I don’t think that’s the case,” Maliksi said despite being approached by Ebona, who on his part explained that he was surprised with how he fouled the Meralco shooter.
“It wasn’t my intention to hit him in the neck,” Ebona explained. “It just so happened that he wanted to get out of the double team and avoid committing a turnover.”
Both players are expected to be summoned by the PBA Commissioner’s Office, but Black said it’s part of what is at stake at this point of the season-ending conference.
“The games are very intense now and they’re very exciting,” Black said. “The players really want to win the game so they’re out there fighting to stay alive in the standings and have a chance to make it to the playoffs.”