Defending champion Meralco put on a scoring clinic and overpowered Terrafirma, 118-80, for a second straight win in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Sunday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Young guns CJ Cansino and Kurt Reyson led the Bolts’ relentless assault in a wire-to-wire victory for an early hold of the solo lead.

Cansino played for just 19 minutes but delivered 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting while Reyson added 16 markers for Meralco, which led by as many as 42 points before finishing with the franchise’s biggest winning margin.

“Our veterans played well but the rookies played well also,” Bolts coach Luigi Trillo said after his team picked an easy win following a close-shaved escape over Converge last Friday.

Bong Quinto had 13 markers and five assists, Alvin Pasaol had 11 points, Brandon Bates flirted with a double-double with 11 points and eight boards in the Bolts’ balanced scoring.

Jolo Mendoza added 11 points as veteran starters Chris Newsome, Cliff Hodge, Raymond Almazan and Aaron Black took a back seat on offense as Meralco took control of the game with a 30-16 first quarter.

Meanwhile, Converge bounced back from an opening day loss by crushing Phoenix, 92-83, behind Alec Stockton’s 18-point explosion.

Schonny Winston added 14 markers and eight rebounds, Bryan Santos had 12 points while Justin Arana had a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards for the FiberXers.

The Fuel Masters suffered a second straight defeat.

Kai Ballungay saw his effort of 15 points and 12 rebounds go to waste once again while Tyler Tio added 13 markers in a lost cause.

Meralco had all of its 15 players fielded contributing points. The Bolts erected a 107-65 lead on an Anjo Caram jumper with 6:45 left in the already decided match.

Louie Sangalan paced Terrafirma with 23 points, Aljun Melecio and Stanley Pringle had 11 markers each while Mark Nonoy added 10.     

The Scores:

First game

MERALCO (118) --- Cansino 19, Reyson 16, Quinto 13, Pasaol 11, Bates 11, Mendoza 11, Caram 9, Hodge 7, Torres 5, Almazan 4, Jose 4, Rios 3, Black 2, Newsome 2, Pascual 1

TERRAFIRMA (80) --- Sangalang 23, Melecio 11, Pringle 11, Nonoy 10, Romeo 9, Catapusan 7, Ramos 6, Zaldivar 3, Hernandez 0, Hanapi 0, Paraiso

Quarters: 30-16, 56-43, 86-56, 118-80

Second game

CONVERGE (92) --- Stockton 18, Winston 14, Santos 12, Arana 10, Baltazar 9, Nermal 7, Garcia 6, Caralipio 5, Racal 5, Delos Santos 2, Corpuz 2, Ambohot 2, Suerte 0, R.Santos 0

PHOENIX (83) --- Ballungay 15, Tio 13, Salado 8, Alejandro 8, Tuffin 7, Rivero 6, Camacho 6, Garcia 6, Ular 4, Soyud 5, Verano 3, Jazul 1, Manganto 1, Daves 0

Quarters: 19-24, 44-38, 67-57, 92-83