PBA: Meralco dominates Terrafirma to gain share of Group A lead

Meralco Bolts’ Allen Durham against Terrafirma defenders in the PBA Governors’ Cup. –PBA IMAGES

Depleted Meralco got back on winning track and clobbered Terrafirma, 107-91, Wednesday for a share of the lead in Group A of the PBA Governors’ Cup at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Import Allen Durham is slowly getting back to his old form, Bong Quinto overcame an injury scare to key a pullaway in the fourth quarter while rookie CJ Cansino stepped up as the Bolts improved to 2-1 despite missing Chris Newsome and Aaron Black.

Active consultant Nenad Vucinic was also out due to being under the weather, but Meralco was still able to tie TNT and Converge atop the group.

SCHEDULE: 2024 PBA Governors’ Cup elimination round

Durham had 23 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals, Quinto dropped 22 and Cansino added 16 for Meralco.

Terrafirma fell to 0-3, still at the bottom of Group A, after another double-digit setback.

Meralco was without Newsome, who sprained his ankle twice in last week’s 93-73 loss to TNT, despite being in uniform. Coach Luigi Trillo said the Bolts opted to rest Newsome, knowing that there are more important games ahead.

READ: PBA: Allen Durham has triumphant Meralco return: ‘It felt right’

Black suffered another injury blow and will be out for a month after hurting his meniscus. The southpaw guard missed the tailend of the Bolts’ run to last season’s Philippine Cup title run due to a knee problem.

The Bolts did welcome back Allein Maliksi after missing the first two games with a thigh issue and had 12 points in 27 minutes.

Raymond Almazan, who was once again out, is due to return for the Bolts Sunday against the NorthPort Batang Pier.

Stanley Pringle topscored for the Dyip with 19 points even as rookie Paolo Hernandez contributed 15 points in 23 minutes off the bench.