By Jay R. Gotera
MANILA — The Meralco Bolts unleashed a barrage of three-pointers in the endgame to ward off the rallying Barangay Ginebra Kings, 107-103, in Game 3 of the PBA Governors’ Cup finals Wednesday night.
Meralco now leads the best-of-seven series, 2-1, with Game 4 set for Friday.
Allen Durham had a huge double-double of 36 points and 20 rebounds.
The streak-shooting Meralco import got plenty of support from the locals, led by Chris Newsome who churned out 22 points — 17 of them in the second half — on top of seven assists.
Jimmy Alapag added 18 points, including four three-pointers. Reynel Hugnatan also keyed the Meralco victory as he nailed three clutch triples in the fourth quarter to finish with 17 markers and eight boards.
The Bolts won despite the explosive performance of Ginebra import Justin Brownlee, who scored 42 huge points.
Meralco opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 blast to take a nine-point lead, 78-69.
The Kings rallied, but the Hugnatan kept them at bay with three triples, with his third three-pointer giving Meralco a seven-point lead, 105-98, with just 42 seconds remaining.
Ginebra flashed its never-say-die spirit as Japeth Aguilar scored on a putback and Brownlee made a long three-pointer to cut Meralco’s lead to 105-103, with just 11 ticks left.
Durham missed two free throws, giving the Kings another chance to steal the game. But Meralco made a defensive stop. Durham then sealed the victory with two free throws.
FIBA 3X3 World Championships
The undermanned Philippines fought hard but lost a close game to Spain, 21-16, to absorb their first loss after an upset victory in the opening day of the 2016 Fiba 3x3 World Championships in China.
Spain raced to an 11-6 lead with over three minutes to go, but the Philippines’ Mac Belo, Karl Dehesa, Glenn Khobuntin came charging back with a 7-1 run to briefly seize the lead, 13-13. No. 11 ranked Spain countered with a 9-3 burst to seal the win.
The Philippines earlier defeated sixth-ranked Romania, 21-19, in a rousing debut.
Belo, Dehesa and Khobuntin played without relief against Spain as the fourth member of the team, Russell Escoto, suffered an injury in the game against Romania.
The Philippines resumes group play Friday against higher-ranked teams beginning with Hungary, which also sports a 1-1 record, and a winless Poland squad.
PBA game Friday: Meralco Bolts vs. Barangay Ginebra Kings (Game 4 of best-of-7 series; Meralco leads 2-1).
