Allen Durham anchored Meralco’s third quarter tear as the shorthanded Bolts defeated NorthPort, 109-99, to take a piece of the lead in Group A of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.        

Meralco behind Durham gained momentum in the second half, outscoring the Batang Pier, 38-17, in the third to build a safe distance that cushioned NorthPort’s comeback attempt in the final canto.    

The burly import was an assist short of a triple-double after putting up 34 points, including 19 in the third period, off a 13-of-18 field goal shooting. He also pulled down 16 rebounds in the Bolts’ second win in a row for a 3-1 win-loss record tied with defending champion TNT.

Protecting a three-point lead at halftime, 52-49, the Bolts pulled away with a strong third quarter and entered the final period with their biggest lead, 90-66.

“We’re a little bit choppy at first but the third quarter was enough for us to have that big lead,” Meralco coach Luigi Trillo said.

However, the Batang Pier with leading scorer Arvin Tolentino on the bench, mounted a spirited rally in the fourth with Will Navarro cutting their deficit to nine, 104-95, off a technical free throw with 3:51 left.

Timely baskets from Chris Banchero, Bong Quinto and Durham kept NorthPort, which saw its two-game win streak snapped, at bay.    

Banchero had 23 points and eight rebounds, Quinto had 18 while Anjo Caram added 10 for the Bolts, who continued to miss injured Raymond Almazan (back and knee), Aaron Black (knee) and now Norbert Torres (dengue).

Chris Newsome returned after a one-game rest and finished with eight markers but Meralco sat out Allein Maliksi and Cliff Hodge saw limited minutes due to back problems.

NorthPort slid to a 2-2 card tied with Converge and Magnolia.

Tolentino, who dropped 51 points in a rout of Converge, had a quiet 21 markers on a 7-of-12 shooting clip, Navarro had 18 points and 11 boards while Joshua Munzon chipped in 16 markers for the Batang Pier.

Aussie import Venky Jois suffered a left ankle sprain in the third and sat out the rest of the game to finish with just six points.     

Box scores:

MERALCO (109) --- Durham 34, Banchero 24, 23, Quinto 18, Caram 10, Newsome 8, Pasucal 6, Cansino 6, Rios 2, Mendoza 2, Bates 0, Hodge 0, Pasaol 0.

NORTHPORT (99) --- Tolentino 21, Navarro 18, Munzon 16, Flores 8, Bulanadi 7, Jois 6, Amores 6, Cuntapay 6, Jalalon 5, Nelle 3, Yu 3, Tratter 0, Onwubere 0.

Quarters: 22-28, 52-49, 90-66, 109-99