MANILA – Allein Maliksi knocked down crucial free throws in the endgame as Meralco Bolts pulled off a 97-93 escape over NLEX Road Warriors in Game 1 of the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Down 92-93 after a conversion from Road Warriors’ Robert Bolick Jr., Maliksi drew a foul from NLEX’s Richie Rodger resulting in two free throws to give the Bolts a 94-93 lead.
The lead was increased to 95-93 on a split free throw by Chris Newsome before Maliksi secured the victory for the Bolts with two more charity shots with nine seconds left in the game.
Maliksi finished with 22 points, including a perfect 7-of-7 free throw shooting, to go with four rebounds and one assist as the Bolts took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three quarterfinals series.
Raymond Almazan and Antonio Jose Caram chipped in 15 and 14 markers, respectively, Newsome and Chris Banchero tallied 12 each, and Kier John Quinto ended with 11 points for Meralco.
The Road Warriors were leading for most part of the opening half before the Bolts slowly clawed their way back in the third period, cutting the deficit to 73-75.
The Bolts started the fourth quarter strong with connections from Banchero and Quinto to take an 81-75 lead, but the Road Warriors kept the match close at 80-81 on a Robbie Herndon triple.
Meralco managed to create separation anew at 87-83 with three-point hits from Caram and Quinto, but NLEX had their answers from Bolick to trim the deficit to 88-89.
Maliksi gave the Bolts a 92-88 lead with a three-point basket, but Bolick responded with an outside shot and a twinner to give the Road Warriors its last lead at 93-92.
Bolick finished with 48 points, including six three-point conversions, while Michael Miranda added 14 markers for the Road Warriors./PN
BOX SCORE:
MERALCO 97 – Maliksi 22, Almazan 15, Caram 14, Newsome 12, Banchero 12, Quinto 11, Bates 4, Torres 3, Hodge 2, Pasaol 2, Dario 0.
NLEX 93 – Bolick 48, Miranda 14, Rodger 6, Herndon 6, Nieto 5, Semerad 5, Fajardo 4, Marcelo 2, Valdez 2, Amer 1, Anthony 0.
Quarterscores: 23-28, 44-54, 73-75, 97-93.
