MANILA – Meralco Bolts leaned on their scorching outside shooting to stave off Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, 104-102, in Game 2 of the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup finals last night at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
Allen Durham led the Bolts to victory with 21 points, 18 rebounds and six assists, while Baser Amer and Chris Newsome added 17 markers apiece.
Raymond Almazan and Nard John Pinto also finished on double figures with 15 and 12 for the bolts, whose waxed-hot shooting converted 16 three pointers.
The Kings opened the match with a 13-6 edge, but the Bolts were quick to erase the lead via four outside hits from Pinto and inside baskets by Almazan for a 36-21 lead.
The Kings rallied to within 36-41 at the start the second period, but the Bolts responded with conversions from Almazan, Durham and Amer to build its largest lead at 61-42.
The Bolts were still leading on double digits in the third quarter when Ginebra unloaded a huge run to tie the score at 70-all. However, four three point hits from Amer, Nico Salva and Bryan Faundo gave the Bolts an 82-76 lead.
The score was 86-90 for the Bolts in the fourth quarter when Amer canned consecutive triples to make it a 101-91 count. The Kings rallied to within 99-103, but a free throw by Durham made it a five-point edge for the Bolts.
Ginebra made its last push with a three-pointer by LA Tenorio with three seconds left, but Meralco’s Salva kept the ball away from the Kings’ defense in the next ball possession to kill time until the buzzer sounded.
American Import Justin Brownlee finished with a double- double, recording 35 points and 11 rebounds, while Stanley Pringle and Japeth Aguilar added 23 and 18 markers respectively for the Kings.
Game 3 of the best of seven series will be played on Sunday, Jan.12 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum./PN
