MANILA – Meralco Bolts sent Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings on the brink of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup exit with a 93-82 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-three quarterfinals last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Aaron Black top-scored with 25 points, including three outside conversions, while Chris Newsome chipped in 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists. The Bolts took a 1-0 edge in the series.
Allein Maliksi hoisted three triples to end up with 17 markers, while Clifford Hodge contributed 10 points, five rebounds and three steals for the Bolts, which was beaten by the Kings in the 2021-2022 PBA Governors’ Cup finals series earlier this year.
Determined to finally score one against the Kings, the Bolts created separation from their opponents in the second quarter behind Newsome and Maliksi as they cruised to a 53-43 halftime lead.
Meralco went on with its onslaught in the second half as they padded the lead to its largest at 91-70 on a dunk by Kier John Quinto before Ginebra converted some late baskets to trim the final margin.
Earl Scottie Thompson finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals, Christian Standhardinger added 12 markers, while Negrense Jeffrei Chan and Japeth Aguilar had 11 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Kings.
In the first game, Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots also moved closer to the semifinals following a 98-89 victory over NLEX Road Warriors in Game 1 of their separate quarterfinals series.
Trailing by four early in the second quarter, Calvin Abueva, Jiovani Jalalon and Ian Sangalang sparked a huge scoring run for the Hotshots followed by 11 consecutive points from Andy Mark Barroca for a 64-47 halftime lead.
The Road Warriors attempted to come close several times in the second half but the Hotshots got answers courtesy of Lee and Jalalon as they preserved a double-digit lead the rest of the match.
Barroca finished the match with 24 points while also achieving a milestone by entering the league 5,000 points club as Lee and Abueva chipped in 13 markers apiece for the streaking Hotshots.
BOX SCORE:
MERALCO 93 – Black 25, Newsome 19, Maliksi 17, Hodge 10, Quinto 9, Almazan 5, Pascual 4, Banchero 4, Hugnatan 0, Pasaol 0, Johnson 0.
GINEBRA 82 – Thompson 29, Standhardinger 12, Chan 11, J. Aguilar 10, Pinto 8, Pringle 6, Mariano 5, Onwubere 1, Tenorio 0, David 0.
Quarterscores: 32-25, 53-43, 80-62, 93-82./PN
