Injury-hit Meralco unearths huge contributions from bench  

Meralco Bolts’ Anjo Caram against a Converge defender during the PBA Governors’ Cup. –PBA IMAGES

The rash of injuries hounding Meralco in the PBA Governors’ Cup has presented a major task for less-heralded players to step up.

But after ending the first round by winning four games out of five, including Wednesday’s mastery of the Converge FiberXers, there’s reason for the Bolts to be thankful.

“We challenge those guys who don’t get that many minutes, and they’re ready to play,” coach Luigi Trillo said after fashioning out the 116-88 victory held at Smart Araneta Coliseum, with the likes of Anjo Caram and Alvin Pasaol stepping up.

Meralco moved on top of Group A, but could be joined by TNT after Thursday’s match with tailender Terrafirma with a win at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Caram, who seems to have at least one big game per conference despite his backup role, had 11 of his 16 points in the third quarter where the Bolts managed to break loose following deficits of 13-3 and 23-8.

The hardly-used Pasaol came up with 12 points in the second half to create more separation as Meralco prevailed anew despite missing veterans Cliff Hodge, Allein Maliksi, Raymond Almazan and Aaron Black.

Latest casualty

Hodge was the latest to be hit by the injury bug after hurting his back in Sunday’s 109-99 win over NorthPort. Like Almazan, Hodge will miss two to three weeks, but Trillo said his prognosis has been improving.

But as they wait for their main guys to return, they’ll look to see those embracing the “Next Man Up” mantra to hopefully pile up more victories domestically and on foreign soil.

“You want to go 7-8 players deep, but I think the advantage is that sometimes playing a lot of guys could work, especially with the system that we have, with the schedule that we have [in the PBA] with three games a week and [the upcoming East Asia Super League in October],” said Trillo.

They start the latter end of the group stage on Saturday in Panabo, Davao del Norte, against Magnolia, the team it defeated in the opening game of Season 49 last Aug. 18 at the Big Dome.

Magnolia was playing NorthPort at press time, seeking to finish the first round on a winning note and go 3-2 for third in the group.

Import Allen Durham once again showed signs of getting back into the old form he’s known for by posting 27 points, 14 rebounds and six assists while Chris Banchero was also huge with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Converge fell to 2-3 despite 33 points, six rebounds and six assists from import Scotty Hopson.