Chris Newsome waxed hot in the second half and willed Meralco to a come-from-behind, 89-75, victory over Barangay Ginebra in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The veteran guard anchored the Bolts’ rally from 16 points down for their second straight win after a rough 0-2 start.

“For us, it’s just about playing as a team. It wasn’t about one person but it’s about showing that we can get it done as a team,” said Newsome, who scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half.

“Being down 12 at the half was a tough hill to climb but we stuck together, and we kept on encouraging one another and we got the win tonight.”

CJ Cansino scored 18 points and Bong Quinto had 11 markers, all in the second half, for the Bolts.

Limited to just 30 points in the first half, Meralco poured 33 in the final period and made a telling 11-2 run to take a 67-66 lead with 7:24 left after Newsome swished in a wide-open corner three.     

The Kings momentarily regained the advantage, 68-67, only for the Bolts to answer with a 16-1 blast for a comfortable 14-point cushion with just 1:32 left in the ball game.   

Ginebra looked headed into a second win in a row after building a 54-38 separation at the start of the third but Newsome worked as the Bolts’ sparkplug for the successful uprising.

The Kings fell to a 1-2 card despite the 14-point effort of RJ Abarrientos.

Japeth Aguilar got 13 markers, Stephen Holt had 12 and Jeremiah Gray finished with 10.

Box scores:

MERALCO (89) --- Newsome 19, Cansino 18, Quinto 11, Hodge 8, Black 8, Maliksi 7, Almazan 6, Banchero 6, Bates 6, Jose 0, Pascual 0

GINEBRA (75) --- Abarrientos 14, J.Aguilar 13, Holt 12, Gray 10, Estil 9, Thompson 6, Rosario 5, Torres 3, Pinto 3, Cu 0, David 0

Quarter scores: 16-20, 30-42, 56-61, 89-75