Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10) – The Meralco Bolts took the pivotal 2-1 lead in the PBA Governors’ Cup finals after beating Barangay Ginebra, 83-74, in Game 3 on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Import Tony Bishop posted his usual impressive numbers, finishing with 30 points and 16 rebounds.
But it was Chris Newsome who made a significant impact in Meralco’s crucial win, as he produced a double-double effort of 20 points and 11 rebounds, along with six assists.
“Chris is our best all-around player. When he plays well, we normally win,” Meralco head coach Norman Black said in praising Newsome for his role in the team searching for its first PBA title.
Bishop and Newsome led the Bolts in their third quarter scoring attack, as they bucked their halftime deficit and clinched the lead by one after 36 minutes of action.
The gritty Meralco squad was also outstanding in defense in the third canto as their pressure defensive stops limited Ginebra to only 13 points.
In the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, Ginebra sniper Jeff Chan buried a triple for a deadlock at 69, much to the delight of most of the 16,104 paying fans inside the MOA Arena.
In response, Bishop prowled the paint and converted inside buckets, while Newsome made his mid-range jumpers to sustain their lead.
After the Chan trey, the Gin Kings only managed to score five points, courtesy of the impressive Bolts defense.
“Both teams really played good defense tonight, you can tell that by the score. It’s just a matter of getting some stops and trying to hold them off as long as we could,” Black said.
The towering Ginebra frontliners led the Gin Kings in scoring, with Justin Brownlee settling for 19 points and 17 rebounds and Christian Standhardinger providing a steady support with 17 markers.
The Scores:
MERALCO 83 – Bishop 30, Newsome 20, Maliksi 10, Black 8, Almazan 6, Quinto 3, Banchero 2, Hugnatan 2, Baclao 2, Hodge 0,
GINEBRA 74 – Brownlee 19, Standhardinger 17, Thompson 11, Tenorio 11, Chan 9, Pinto 5, Devance 2, Tolentino 0, Mariano 0
Quarterscores: 22-27, 40-48, 62-61, 83-74
