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MERALCO edged out Blackwater, 89-85, on Wednesday to stay in strong contention for a place in the quarterfinals at the Philippine Basketball Association of the Philippines Cup at the University of Angeles Foundation gym in Pampanga.
Chris Newsome unleashed a versatile performance and finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Kier John Quinto had 14 points in addition to six assists to help the Bolts to a 4-3 win-loss record with four more games on his schedule. knockout round.
“Our goal today was to get in position to make the playoffs,” Meralco coach Norman Black said, noting that the victory was not pretty with his 26 turnovers compared to 15 for Elite.
Veteran Reynel Hugnatan, one of the three oldest active players in the league to celebrate his 42nd birthday Tuesday, scored 14 points, while hardworking Cliff Hodge added 11 points and Allein Maliksi contributed 10 points for the Bolts.
The game recorded the first flagrant foul of two within the bubble of Niño “KG” Canaleta de Blackwater and Reymar José de Meralco hitting each other with their arms in the final five seconds. No punches were thrown but both were ejected from the game.
Don Trollano and Shej Roi Sumang had 16 and 15 points, respectively, for the Elite, who lost for the fourth time in a row for a 2-5 win-loss record.
Kevin Alas and Jericho Cruz propelled NLEX to beat Rain or Shine, 94-74, as the league played four games for the second day in a row inside the Clark bubble.
Alas had 18 points and Cruz 17 points to help lift the Road Warriors to a 3-5 record. The Elasto Painters fell to 4-2.
Paul Lee had 27 points and Chris Banchero had 19 points when Magnolia crushed TNT Tropang Giga, 102-92, for consecutive victories and their third win after seven games.
However, the Tropang Giga remained on top with a 6-2 win-loss record.
