Meralco needed an extra five minutes and a whole lot of grit to score its first and only win — but the most important one — over Magnolia in three meetings in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup.
The Bolts sent the Hotshots packing after pulling off a tough 105-102 overtime victory to book a semifinal seat on Saturday at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.
Meralco’s composure and mental toughness down the stretch prevailed as Bong Quinto made a crucial jumper and two pressure-packed foul shots inside the final 37 seconds to emerge victorious in the quarterfinal showdown that went the distance.
“These guys pulled through. They gutted it out and found a way,” Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo said with a sigh of relief after Magnolia forced them to use their twice-to-beat advantage.
Meralco will take on the winner between defending champion TNT and NLEX in the best-of-seven semis starting Wednesday.
The Tropang 5G and Road Warriors are still clashing in a sudden death quarters match as of press time.
Already through to the next round are Barangay Ginebra and Rain or Shine, which took care of their quarters assignments last Friday.
Marvin Jones had 28 points and nine rebounds while Chris Newsome added 18 points for the Bolts, who dropped Game 1 of the quarters, 89-95, last Wednesday.
Meralco was blown out by Magnolia, 76-93, in their elimination round meeting last 10 May.
CJ Cansino had 16 points, Cliff Hodge scored 14 and seven boards while Quinto finished with 11 points for Meralco, which needed to gut it out with a Magnolia side that lost import Clint Chapman after fouling out with 4:20 left in regulation.
“First of all congratulations to Magnolia. They didn’t start out well this conference but they were able to win seven of their last eight (games). They beat us two times; it could’ve been a third. When Chapman came out, they fought and it came down to a last possession,” Trillo said.
Quinto put Meralco in front, 102-100, with a left elbow buzzer-beater jumper with 37.9 seconds remaining in the extension. Jerom Lastimosa split his charities in the Hotshots possession before Cansino and Quinto had their own splits from the foul line for a 104-101 Meralco advantage with 21.1 ticks left.
Lastimosa paid dearly for his indecisiveness, losing the ball on his drive as Quinto again nailed one of his two free throws. Meralco gave up a foul to prevent Magnolia from attempting a four-pointer with 4.4 seconds remaining.
Lastimosa made his first foul shot but the Hotshots failed to grab the rebound on Lastimosa’s intentional miss on his second freethrow.
