POWER RESTORED: Bolts dismantle Dyip behind Durham, Quinto
‘I think we did well today. It didn’t matter who scored because the ball was moving around.’
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Daily Tribune‘I think we did well today. It didn’t matter who scored because the ball was moving around.’
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Bong Quinto of Meralco shares the scoring load by firing 22 points during Meralco’s 107-91 demolition of Terrafirma on Wednesday in their PBA Governors’ Cup game at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
photograph by Joey sanchez Mendoza for the daily tribune @tribunephl_joey
Depleted Meralco made it rain from the outside while Allen Durham inflicted damage in the painted area to raze luckless Terrafirma, 107-91, and get back on the winning track in Group A of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Bong Quinto, who had an injury scare after a slip early in the fourth quarter, made three triples in the Bolts’ 13-2 breakaway in the final five minutes to set the tone for their second win in three outings.
The Bolts, who rested injured Chris Newsome (ankle), Aaron Black (knee) and Raymond Almazan (back), moved up to a share of the lead alongside defending champion TNT and Converge while keeping the Dyip winless.
“I think we did well today. It didn’t matter who scored because the ball was moving around,” Meralco coach Luigi Trillo said of his men after a complete team effort to recover from a previous loss to sister team Tropang Giga.
Quinto, who hurt his left leg after slipping on a wet area of the ftloor and had to be helped back to the bench just two minutes into the fourth quarter, scored 11 of his 22 points in the final canto and shot 8-of-11 from the field including a scorching 4-of-5 from three-point range.
Durham made a killing inside with 23 points and 12 rebounds, Chris Banchero had 17 points while rookie CJ Cansino sparked Meralco’s electrifying 15 triples with four treys in a breakout performance of 16 points.
Allein Maliksi, back after missing the Bolts’ first two games due to a groin injury, came off the bench and scored 12 points.
Terrafirma freshman Paolo Hernandez cut Meralco’s lead to six, 90-84, after draining his fourth and last triple of the game with 6:41 remaining.
Durham answered with an inside basket followed by Quinto’s back-to-back three-pointers. Cliff Hodge scored another basket for Meralco before Quinto nailed another trey to break the game wide-open, 103-85, with 3:22 left.
Meralco found its outside range in the first half, hitting 7-of-12 from the three-point area to create the separation that ballooned to as high as 16 after Anjo Caram connected a triple for a 47-31 lead with 6:38 left in the second quarter.
The Bolts also pounded the ball from inside with 28 points in the paint compared to only 16 by the Dyip and were in control of the boards, 24-15.
Meralco entered the break with a 56-43 lead.
Stanley Pringle led the 0-3 Terrafirma with 19 points, import Antonio Hester had 18 points but was terrible at the foul line with 2-of-7 clip while Hernandez had a PBA career-best 15 markers.
Juami Tiongson and Christian Standhardinger struggled on offense with nine points each in a combined 5-of-21 from the field.
The scores:
MERALCO (107) — Durham 23, Quinto 22, Banchero 17, Cansino 16, Maliksi 12, Mendoza 5, Hodge 4, Caram 4, Torres 2, Pascual 2, Bates 0, Pasaol 0, Rios 0.
TERRAFIRMA (91) — Pringle 19, Hester 18, Hernandez 15, Tiongson 9, Standhardinger 9, Sangalang 7, Carino 7, Carino 4, Ferrer 4, Cahilig 3, Hanapi 3, Olivario 0.
Quarters: 31-19, 56-43, 79-67, 107-91.
