Staying afloat

We will try our best to stay on top, but I know it’s difficult.

ANTIPOLO CITY — Meralco unleashed a furious late-game rally to topple Blackwater, 106-97, in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Friday at the Ynares Center here.

Allen Durham had a dominant performance while Raymond Almazan continued his brilliant run for the Bolts, who secured their fourth win in six games to claim the fourth spot entering the midway mark of this season-ending conference.

Durham submitted an impressive all-around performance of 27 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks while Almazan had 19 markers and 13 boards for Meralco, which also drew a fine game from wily playmaker Baser Amer who finished with 17 points, three rebounds with five treys.

Meralco coach Norman Black was satisfied with the win that put them in the position to secure a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

“The goal is to try and take advantage of the format in which the top four teams gets twice-to-beat advantage,” Black said, adding that they want to win as many as they can not just to stay afloat, but also to build enough momentum for the tough grind ahead.

“We will try our best to stay on top, but I know it’s difficult.”

Black, one of the greatest coaches in the country, said they are taking the conference one game at a time before going for the kill.

“We just want to win the games that we know we can win,” he said.

“We know that the road gets tougher when we play San Miguel in our next game. But the focus was tonight to bounce back on our last game. We just have to go out there and get it done. It didn’t matter if its pretty or not. We just want to go out and defend and win the game.

With Meralco protecting a slim six-point lead, 82-76, Anjo Caram sparked a quick 5-0 rally to increase the deficit to nine, 85-76, early in the fourth canto.

The Elite tried to fight back, but Bong Quinto dropped a huge trey to jack up the lead back to 10, 96-86, putting the Bolts in complete control the rest of the way.

Black said the presence of Durham makes them very competitive.

“With Allen Durham here we think we can always be competitive against all the teams. I’m glad to have him here in the Philippines and play for Meralco. We just want to be the best we can this conference,” he said, referring to their former import who led them to the finals two years ago.

“One thing I learned as a coach is that you want to be better as you go through the tournament than you were at the beginning of the tournament. So hopefully we will peak at the right time.”

Marqus Blakely registered 15 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists and four steals while Ray Parks had 12 markers and eight assists for the Elite, who dropped to 2-4.

Allein Maliksi also had 12 points off the bench, but hardly a factor in the crucial stretch of the match.