MANILA — The top-seeded Meralco Bolts averted a huge disaster with a late-game explosion to turn back the hard-fighting Blackwater Elite, 104-96, Thursday night, thus advancing to the semifinals of the PBA Governors’ Cup.
Emerging star Baser Amer played a key role in the victory, banging away a game-high 31 points, a point shy of his career high, to lead the Bolts to a come-from-behind victory. Amer shot the lights out of the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, nailing 11 of 17 shots, including 4-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc, for an amazing 64.7 percent shooting from the field in 39 minutes of play. The sophomore guard, who will be turning 25 on Friday, fired 22 of his points in the second half to spearhead a furious Meralco rally from a 12-point deficit, 40-52, at the start of the third quarter. He also had four rebounds and three assists.
It was a mighty bounce-back for Amer who was held to just eight points after suffering an early minor injury in Meralco’s 91-92 loss to Blackwater Tuesday.
Allen Durham also played his guts out, bucking an ankle injury late in the game to produce a near triple-double of 18 points, 20 rebounds, and nine assists in 39 minutes.
Garvo Lanete posted 17 markers while Jared Dillinger added 15, all in the second half. Both nailed five three-pointers each, with Dillinger’s last triple giving Meralco a 104-94 lead with less than two minutes left.
Ranidel de Ocampo chipped in 14 markers. The former TNT star also shone on defense, putting a handcuff on Blackwater’s prolific import Bill Walker in the second half. Walker scored 27 points in the first half but wound up with just seven markers in the second with De Ocampo sticking to him like a leech.
Blackwater was still ahead early in the fourth when Amer scored eight points during an 11-0 Meralco blast that turned the game around. Durham and Dillinger then drained one clutch after another as the Bolts avoided a historic upset at the hands of the eighth-seeded Elite.
The Bolts thus arranged a best-of-5 semifinals series against the Star Hotshots beginning Sunday.
Game Friday: (Quarters sudden death) TNT KaTropa Texters vs. Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
