MANILA – Antonio Jose Caram sparked Meralco Bolts’ third-quarter breakaway as they defeated Converge FiberXers, 116-88, in 2024 PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Iloilo City native finished with 16 points, with 11 coming in the third quarter, to go with one rebound and one assist to be named Player of the Game as the Bolts notched its third straight win for a 4-1 win-loss slate.
“We really started slow and we had to grind it out on the defensive end, especially in the third quarter when we went to our bread and butter, which is AD, and nalibre ‘yung mga shooters, and luckily na-shoot namin,” Caram said. “It is really a collective effort.”
Allen Durham led the way for the Bolts with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists, Chris Banchero added 24 markers, while Alvin Pasaol and Jose Lorenzo Mendoza ended up with 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Meralco.
“We did not start the game too well, but as the game progresses, we develop the sense of urgency defensively,” said Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo. “We started playing well in the second quarter and it went on in the third quarter onwards.”
“Good thing is we have guys who are ready to play, like Anjo and Alvin, the players who don’t usually play huge minutes in the previous games, they played huge for us in this game,” he added.
Brian Scott Hopson finished with 33 points, six rebounds, and six assists, Alec Stockton added 13 markers, while John Louisse delos Santos and Jeo Ambohot had 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the FiberXers, which dropped to 2-3 record.
On Tuesday night, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings got a huge lift from their local crew to score a dominant 119-91 victory over the NLEX Road Warriors and get back to their winning ways.
Stephen Holt had his best game in a Gin Kings uniform, finishing with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, while Maverick Ahanmisi contributed a season-high of 20 markers as the Gin Kings improved to a 2-2 win-loss slate.
Rhon Jhay Abarrientos and Earl Scottie Thompson chipped in 19 markers apiece, and Japeth Aguilar and Justin Brownlee contributed 13 apiece in limited minutes for the Gin Kings./PN
BOX SCORE:
MERALCO 116 – Durham 27, Banchero 24, Caram 16, Pasaol 12, Mendoza 10, Cansino 6, Newsome 5, Quinto 5, Jose 5, Rios 3, Bates 2, Pascual 1.
CONVERGE 88 – Hopson 33, Stockton 13, Delos Santos 12, AMbohot 10, Santos 8, Winston 5, Maagdenberg 4, Andrade 3, Fleming 0, Racal 0, Nieto 0, Caralipio 0, Melecio 0, Fornilos 0, Cabagnot 0.
Quarterscores: 26-32, 53-50, 86-73, 116-88.
