Bolts zap Fuel Masters

Meralco notched its third victory after beating Phoenix, 111-94, in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Allen Durham led the Bolts with 27 points and 12 rebounds while Chris Newsome tallied a triple-double of 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists as Meralco improved its mark to 3-1.

Baser Amer also contributed big for the Bolts with 26 points and four assists while Bong Quinto and Raymond Almazan each had 14 markers for the squad of head coach Norman Black.

“I couldn’t have asked for more as far as our offense is concerned especially when it came to the balance of our offense,” Black said.

“Tonight, I felt that we did a really good job playing as a team offensively. We just try to stay in character to be a defensive team at the same time we know there are certain teams that you really have to score against if you want to beat them and Phoenix is one of them,” he added.

The Fuel Masters lost their head coach Louie Alas early in the second period after incurring two technical fouls that led to his ejection.

Meralco capitalized on the situation and erected a 52-35 lead with 1:18 remaining in the first half.

The Bolts stretched their lead to as high as 27 points, 88-61, 10:37 left in the game and were never threatened.

Eugene Phelps paced the Fuel Masters with 31 points and 24 rebounds while RJ Jazul and RR Garcia chipped in 11 and 10 markers, respectively. Phoenix dropped to 1-4.