Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 1) – The Meralco Bolts booked another return trip to the PBA Governors’ Cup finals after eliminating top seed Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots, 94-81, in their do-or-die Game 5 semifinals match on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Bolts will again face Barangay Ginebra in the finals, their fourth showdown in the last five stagings of the Governors’ Cup. The Gin Kings all won their previous four meetings.
Allein Maliksi stepped up to the occasion with 24 points while Raymond Almazan had a perfect night with 18 points, where he all converted his nine field goals.
Chris Newsome also contributed big into the Bolts scoring attack with a double-double effort of 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Aaron Black chipped in 16 points for their rubber match victory.
Meralco head coach Norman Black lauded the composure of the Bolts as they overshadowed the poor offensive performance of Tnoy Bishop, who settled for eight points in the contest, and the absence of injured star guard Chris Banchero.
“It’s really the will to win. We talked about just winning for one another and playing for one another. I don’t think anybody was distracted or down,” Black talked about his team’s performance in the post-game media briefing.
After trailing close for the first three quarters, Meralco started to be aggressive in offense in the fourth quarter with Almazan and Maliksi doing the damage in the first six minutes to snatch the lead from Magnolia.
The Bolts pulled away by double digits at 78-67 off a Maliksi trey in the 7:25 mark of the final canto.
The top seed Magnolia managed to trim their deficit to six points, 72-78, from the charities of Paul Lee but Meralco leaned on Maliksi and Newsome to maintain their wide lead until the final buzzer.
“Our offense wasn’t really clicking and did not make any great shots in the first half. But we talked about it that if we want to make it to the finals, we have to rely on our defense. That’s basically what we did and after a while, our shots started to fall a little bit,” said Black.
Calvin Abueva led the scoring pace for Magnolia with 21 points and Lee added 13 markers.
Game 1 of the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals is set for Wednesday, April 6, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
MERALCO 94 – Maliksi 24, Almazan 18, Newsome 17, Black 16, Bishop 8, Caram 4, Quinto 4, Hodge 3, Hugnatan 0, Baclao 0, Canete 0, belo 0
MAGNOLIA 81 – Abueva 21, Barroca 11, Lee 13, Jalalon 11, Sangalang 10, Dela Rosa 6, Harris 5, Wong 2, Corpuz 1, Reavis 1, Brill 0, Dionisio 0, Escoto 0
Quarterscores: 23-29, 41-46, 62-65, 94-81
