PBA: Meralco shuts down Magnolia to remain in playoff race

Meralco Bolts guard Chris Banchero.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Meralco gave Magnolia a dose of its medicine on Sunday with a 74-51 beatdown while keeping itself in the race for a playoff spot in the PBA Philippine Cup.

The Bolts held the undermanned Hotshots to their lowest output in franchise history while hiking their win-loss mark to an even 5-5.

“I think it was two things: In the first half, they only had 21 points. We played good defense and our guys were on point. And they were lacking two players also–not to take anything away from us, we played well defensively, but they didn’t have (Jio) Jalalon and Calvin (Abueva),” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo said shortly after the contest at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

“But that being said, we want to give credit: The players did their roles led by this guy here,” he went on, referring to Raymond Almazan, who starred in the low-scoring affair with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Chris Newsome, Chris Banchero and rookie Brandon Bates all delivered twin-digit scores for Meralco, which improved to 7th place even after the struggles that hounded the club early into the tournament.

READ: PBA: Last conference’s heartbreak fuels Aaron Black, Meralco

“It’s one game, but we know we just put ourselves in a better situation now. I think from No. 3 through 9, it could by any (team) there, so we’re knocking each other out and we’re trying to get to that best-of-three situation,” said Trillo.

Magnolia got the most points from the resurgent Ian SAngalang, who had eight points. And with a frosty shooting bothering the Hotshots all night long, they dropped to 5-4 with two more games left in their elimination round schedule.

Meralco will finish their preliminaries against the mighty defending champion San Miguel, the only unbeaten side this All-Filipino. The Bolts brain trust is also hoping that they do so with Aaron Black back in the fold even after hurting his knee during the game against Magnolia.

On tap for the Hotshots are Terrafirma and TNT whom they battle first week of May.

The Scores:

MERALCO 74 – Newsome 12, Almazan 12, Banchero 11, Bates 10, Caram 9, Quinto 6, Maliksi 4, Black 3, Dario 3, Hodge 2, Pascual 2, Torres 0, Pasaol 0

MAGNOLIA 51 – Sangalang 8, Laput 6, Dionisio 6, Lee 6, Dela Rosa 5, Barroca 5, Tratter 4, Balanza 4, Escoto 2, Corpuz 2, Eriobu 2, Mendoza 1, Reavis 0

QUARTERSCORES: 21-14, 35-21, 56-34, 74-51