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[av_heading heading=’Meralco crushes skidding Katropa in PBA PH Cup’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – The Meralco Bolts cruised to its second straight win in the 2016-2017 Oppo PBA Philippine Cup after scoring a 98-87 victory over the TNT Katropa on Friday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Rookie Eduardo Daquioag led the way with a career-best 23 points for the Bolts, which moved to second place in the standing with a 2-1 slate along with the Phoenix Fuel Masters, San Miguel Beermen, and Global Port Batang Pier.
Rabeh Al-Hussaini chipped in 14 markers, while Negrense Reynel Hugnatan and Chris Newsome contributed 11 points apiece for the Bolts, which came from a 106-93 win over the NLEX Road Warriors last week.
The Bolts opened the match with a 16-2 scoring run behind Newsome, Hugnatan and Baser Amer. But the Katropa quickly responded to come to within 22-21 before the Bolts pulled to a 26-23 lead on conversions by Daquioag and Joseph Yeo.
The Bolts were able to pull away anew to 31-23 following a triple by Daquioag but the Katropa came to within 31-29. From there, both teams had an exchange of leads before settling for a 45-all score at halftime.
The trend continued for both teams early in the third frame until the Bolts went on a huge run behind Hugnatan, Newsome and Daquioag for a 72-63 lead on a jumper by Al-Hussaini.
The Katropa rallied to within 77-74 in the final quarter but back-to-back triples by Clifford Hodge followed by baskets by Daquioag gave the Bolts a 93-82 lead with just under two minutes left in the game.
“I thought it was extraordinary end exceptional the way we played defense,” said Bolts head coach Norman Black. “It was a big win for us against a strong Talk ‘N Text team, and we did it on the defensive end.”
Jayson Castro top-scored with 23 points, while Kelly Williams added 19 markers for the Katropa, which suffered its second defeat in four matches to tie with the Blackwater Elite in the standings./PN
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