MANILA — The Meralco Bolts strengthened their bid for a Top Four finish, joining the Barangay Ginebra Kings at the top of the standings with a 100-93 demolition of the GlobalPort Batang Pier in the PBA Governors’ Cup Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Bolts tied the Kings at the top with an 8-2 win-loss and could emerge as the top seed if they win their last elimination round game against the San Miguel Beermen Sunday. A loss, however, could result in ties among some of the seven teams competing for the Top Four seeds with the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Also-rans GlobalPort ended the conference with a dismal 3-8 record. The Batang Pier played their last game of the season without an import following the injury suffered by Murphey Holloway in their last game, and also without their top gunner Terrence Romeo, who was also out due to an undisclosed injury. The GlobalPort superstar was earlier meted a 20 thousand-peso fine for throwing the ball at Blackwater import Bill Walker in their game last Sunday, an act that also caused his ejection early in the game, which Blackwater won, 118-107.
The GlobalPort management tried to replace Holloway with a new import, Jamal Thomas, but the latter was measured over the 6’5″ height limit by just 15/16 of an inch Thursday.
Meralco quickly pounced on the badly crippled GlobalPort with reigning Best Import Allen Durham again showing the way with a triple-double of 22 points, 22 boards, and 10 assists. Chris Newsome led the local Bolts with 28 points, seven boards, and five assists. Reynel Hugnatan added 13 points while Cliff Hodge chipped in 10 markers.
The Batang Pier refused to go down without a fight, cutting Meralco’s 24-point lead with a 27-7 run in the fourth quarter that slashed the Bolts’ winning margin to just seven points.
Sean Anthony led the Batang Pier with 23 points, 14 of them scored in GlobalPort’s last-gasp rally. Jonathan Grey added 16 markers while Stanley Pringle and Bradwyn Guinto had 14 apiece. Mac Cardona chipped in 11.
Star 128, Kia 81
The Star Hotshots blasted the lowly Kia Picanto, 128-81, for their sixth win in 10 games, thus keeping their hopes alive for a Top Four finish.
Star thus joined six other teams—Meralco (8-2), Ginebra (8-2), San Miguel Beer (7-3), TNT (7-3), NLEX (7-3) Rain or Shine (6-4)—in the hunt for the top four seeds in the quarterfinals. Star goes up against NLEX on Sunday, the final elimination round play date, in a game that could determine one of the top seeds.
The 47-point drubbing was the worst loss in Kia’s franchise history as the Picanto finished their Governors’ Cup campaign winless in 11 games.
Kristofer Acox sparkled for the Hotshots with team-highs of 19 points and 15 boards on top of three assists, two steals, and two blocks. The new Star import was red-hot from the get-go, scoring eight points in the first quarter to spark a rampage that the Hotshots would sustain until the final buzzer sounded.
Point guard Jio Jalalon led Star’s locals with 17 points along with seven assists, three boards, and three steals.
The game also saw Marc Pingris setting a new personal milestone as he became the 85th member of the league’s 5,000-point club, reaching that mark with his last shot, a one-handed jam with 7.7 seconds left to play that gave Star its biggest lead at 49, 128-79. The 13-year PBA veteran and former Gilas star finished with 12 points and nine boards.
Three other Hotshots scored in double digits with PJ Simon finishing with 13 points, Ian Sangalang with 12, and Justin Melton, 10.
Import Geron Johnson had another explosive night for Kia with 27 points, nine boards, five assists, and three steals—but all for nothing.
The Hotshots shot a remarkable 60 percent from the floor, with their bench putting up 73 points. They also had a whopping 34 assists and a huge 62-41 edge in rebounds.
Games Saturday: Blackwater Elite (5-5) vs. Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (6-4) and TNT KaTropa Texters (7-3) vs. Barangay Ginebra Kings (8-2).
