MANILA – Meralco Bolts put an end to San Miguel Beermen’s five-year reign following a 90-68 domination in the do-or-die quarterfinals of their 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center in Pampanga last night.
Baser Amer and Clifford Hodge tallied 14 points each, Bacolodnon center Reynel Hugnatan added 12 markers and eight rebounds while Allein Maliksi contributed 11 points for the Bolts.
The No. 5 seed Meralco, which overcame the twice-to-beat quarterfinals incentive of the No. 4 ranked San Miguel Beer, will next face Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in the best-of-five semifinals beginning on Wednesday.
The Bolts surged to a 16-6 start with conversions from Amer, Hugnatan and Chris Newsome. The lead grew to 40-18 on hits from Maliksi and Hodge, but the Beermen managed to cut it to 31-43 at the half.
The Beermen continued their rally in the third period as they came as close as 37-43, but Meralco answered with conversions from Amer, Maliksi, Kier John Quinto and Raymond Almazan to widen the advantage to 75-50.
The Bolts went on to build their largest lead of the match at 80-52 early in the fourth quarter following a basket from Aaron Black. The Beermen tried to fight back but Meralco responded quickly to preserve the win.
Moala Tautuaa and Marcio Lassiter finished the game with 20 points each while Arwind Santos added 10 markers as the Beermen, which played in the bubble without June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo, ended up at fifth place.
On Saturday night, Matthew Wright drained a go-ahead triple as Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters entered the semifinals with an 89-88 escape over Magnolia Hotshots in their quarterfinals match.
Trailing 86-88 following a two-pointer by Hotshots’ Ian Sangalang, Wright beat the shot clock with a running three-pointer to surge the Fuel Masters ahead for good at 89-88 with 9.3 seconds left.
Wright finished the match with 32 points, nine assists and five rebounds while Jason Perkins chipped in 16 points and six rebounds for the No. 2 seed Fuel Masters. They will face the TNT Tropang Giga in the best-of-five semifinals on Wednesday.
The Tropang Giga rode on the second half exploits of Roger Pogoy as they cruised to a 104-83 victory over the Alaska Aces. Pogoy finished the match with 34 points, including six triples.
BOX SCORE:
MERALCO 90 – Hodge 14, Amer 14, Hugnatan 12, Maliksi 11, Newsome 9, Quinto 9, Black 9, Almazan 8, Jamito 2, Jackson 2, Jose 0, Salva 0, Pinto 0, Caram 0.
SAN MIGUEL 68 – Tautuaa 20, Lassiter 20, Santos 10, Ross 7, Cabagnot 6, Zamar 3, Alolino 2, Pessumal 0, Escoto 0, Gamalinda 0, Comboy 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 21-11; Q2, 43-31; Q3, 75-50; Q4, 90-68./PN
