Meralco withstood a late challenge by erstwhile unbeaten defending champion San Miguel Beer in a 95-92 shocker to secure a spot in the playoffs of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup on Saturday at the Batangas City Coliseum.

The Bolts accomplished what the other 10 teams failed to achieve by putting a dent in the Beermen’s pristine record and punching a quarterfinals ticket after closing the elimination round with a 6-5 card tied with Rain or Shine.

Cliff Hodge had a huge outing for Meralco with 20 points and 13 rebounds while Allein Maliksi came up with clutch baskets in the closing stretch that kept the San Miguel at bay as he finished with 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting.

Chris Newsome had 17 points and six assists, Bong Quinto and Chris Banchero contributed 12 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Bolts, who built a 17-point lead late in the third quarter.

Meralco dodged the bullet when CJ Perez missed his three-point attempt that could’ve sent the game to overtime. Meralco avoided the complications of a possible playoff for the last playoffs seat had they dropped the game.

The Bolts went up, 93-86, with 4:27 remaining in the game off a Maliksi step back jumper. The Beermen ignited a 6-2 run to close the gap, 92-95.

San Miguel had a chance to trim its deficit further, but Perez missed two crucial free throws. The Beermen had another opportunity for one last basket after Maliksi missed his jumper.

Raymond Almazan was called for a kicked ball that knocked the ball out of San Miguel center June Mar Fajardo’s hands at the three-point area with two seconds remaining as the Beermen sued for time to plot one last play.

Despite the loss, San Miguel ended the round on top and will enter the quarters as the No. 1 seed armed with a twice-to-beat advantage.

Fajardo posted 23 points, 19 rebounds and four assists while Don Trollano and Jericho Cruz got 14 apiece for the Beermen.

Box scores:

MERALCO (95) --- Hodge 20, Maliksi 19, Newsome 17, Quinto 12, Banchero 10, Caram 6, Almazan 6, Bates 5, Pascual 0, Dario 0, Pasaol 0, Torres 0.

SAN MIGUEL (92) --- Fajardo 23, Cruz 14, Trollano 14,  Lassiter 9, Perez 8, Romeo 8, Enciso 6, Tautuaa 4, Brondial 4, Manuel 2, Teng 0, Ross 0.

Quarters: 27-20, 52-44, 82-66, 95-92