PBA Finals: Meralco escapes San Miguel for 2-1 series edge

Meralco Bolts’ Chris Newsome shoots during Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against the San Miguel Beermen.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Meralco played splendid basketball on both ends on Sunday night for a gutsy 93-89 Game 3 victory over San Miguel and a 2-1 lead in the PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven championship series.

The Bolts saw all of their starters finish in double-digit scores while clamping down on the Beermen’s top guns in yet another tightly-contested duel at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

“Looking at the stats, 15 lead changes, 16 times tied. You could just see how close these games are. I thought we were OK with our execution [tonight],” said coach Luigi Trillo, whose charges aptly rebounded after narrowly losing to the defending champions, 95-94, in the previous encounter last Friday night.

READ: PBA Finals: Meralco quickly moves on from Game 2 heartbreak

NEWNEW!!! ⚡️⚡️⚡️

Chris Newsome sinks a huge triple to lift Meralco up, 91-89, with 34.1 to go. @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/TzBAQAzBmI

— Rommel Fuertes Jr. (@MeloFuertesINQ) June 9, 2024

Chris Newsome delivered 26 points, including an open corner triple and two charities late in the game that proved to be the cushion that Meralco needed to prevail.

Raymond Almazan had 17 points–his finest this series–and had 13 rebounds. Bong Quinto chipped in 16 more into the scoring effort while Chris Banchero and Cliff Hodge pumped in 10 each.

Mo Tautuaa had 19 points to lead all of the Beermen, while CJ Perez was limited to just 18 points after top-scoring with 34 in the previous meeting.

READ: PBA Finals: San Miguel survives Meralco to tie series

Game 2 hero Marcio Lassiter and reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo added 12 points each, while Don Trollano and Jeron Teng also finished in twin-digit scores.

“We won, but we’re not satisfied with our last three, four minutes,” said Trillo, who pointed out how much tidying up Meralco has to do to sustain their run in this showdown for the prestigious Jun Bernardino trophy.

Meralco will try to annex a second-straight win and put its fancied foe in a bind in Game 4 set this Wednesday, again at the Big Dome.

The Scores:

MERALCO 93 – Newsome 26, Almazan 17, Quinto 16, banchero 10, Hodge 10, Maliksi 8, Torres 2, Pascual 2, Bates 2, Rios 0, Caram 0

SAN MIGUEL 89 – Tuatuaa 19, Perez 18, Lassiter 12, Fajardo 12, Trollano 11, Teng 10, Cruz 7, Ross 0, Brondial 0, Enciso 0

Quarterscores: 28-24, 48-46, 71-70, 93-89