By Jay R. Gotera
MANILA — The fourth-seeded Meralco Bolts rode on the sterling performance of Cliff Hodge to eliminate the top-seeded TNT KaTropa with an emphatic 94-88 victory in Game 4 of their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals series Monday night.
Hodge scored a career-high 32 points, including a dagger three-pointer with 50 seconds left that put an end to TNT’s furious rally from 10 points down. The energetic Meralco forward also grabbed four rebounds.
It was Meralco’s third straight win over TNT after losing the opener, catapulting the Bolts to their first-ever finals appearance in franchise history. The Bolts will be tangling in a best-of-7 finals with the winner of the San Miguel vs. Barangay Ginebra semifinal series, which will be decided Tuesday.
Hodge found plenty of support from his teammates, particularly import Allen Durham who posted 19 points and 16 boards.
Chris Newsome also played a key role in Meralco’s upset victory, hitting eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Reynel Hugnatan added 16 markers.
The loss was a terrible blow to TNT, which lost only once in the elimination round and was heavily favored over its sister team.
Compounding the Texters’ shooting woes was the ejection of top gunner Jayson Castro who picked up second flagrant foul late in the fourth, hastening the TNT’s collapse.
Castro presided over the Texters’ comeback bid in the endgame, scoring 12 of his team-high 25 points in the fourth quarter. But his numbers all went down the drain after TNT’s fourth-quarter meltdown.
The Bolts also took advantage of TNT import Mychal Ammons’ early foul trouble as the TNT reinforcement picked up his fifth foul early in the fourth. Ammons finished with just 10 points, the same score put up by rookie Troy Rosario. Ranidel de Ocampo added 14 markers.
Game Tuesday: San Miguel Beermen vs. Barangay Ginebra Kings (Game 5 of best-of-5 semifinals; series tied 2-2).
