Charged-up Meralco inched closer to securing a quarterfinals ticket with a statement win over league-leading NorthPort, 111-94, in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup Tuesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Defense was the name of the game for the Bolts as they held the usually high-scoring Batang Pier to under 100 points for the first time in the mid-season conference while extending their winning streak to three.
Meralco hiked its win-loss record to 6-3 to climb inside the tightly-contested top four spots.
The Bolts locked down on defense and sparked a decisive second quarter run that dictated the tempo of the match.
They broke the game wide-open in the fourth period by raining down seven triples including back-to-back treys that pushed their lead to 22 with under three minutes left.
“NorthPort has been playing really good basketball. I mean they deserve every win. They’ve taken down a lot of quality teams, Hong Kong, Ginebra, like some of the coaches said, they are the real deal,” Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo said.
“But I think today we played better defensively. We know this team can score the ball. They got guys like (Joshua) Munzon, (Arvin) Tolentino, (Will) Navarro. Their import also is a perfect fit for them.”
Akil Mitchell led Meralco with 30 points and 13 rebounds while also showing his defensive prowess with five steals.
Chris Banchero, on the other hand, picked up the perfect time to deliver a personal conference-best 25 points on 10-of-15 field goal shooting with six assists and four rebounds for the Bolts.
“It’s always nice to be healthy. It was a very important game for us. I was really excited to play NorthPort tonight because they were playing the best in this conference. So, we really wanted to see where we are at as a team,” Banchero, who played only his third game in the tournament after coming back from an injury.
“I thought we responded well tonight. They are a tough team, and they deserve a lot of respect.”
Chris Newsome scored 15 points for Meralco and was a menace on defense, especially against Munzon but fouled out with 1:23 left in the fourth with the game already decided.
The Bolts played sans Aaron Black as a late scratch to rest his knee injury (meniscus). Black was actually limbering up hours before the game as he joined the shootaround but came back on civilian clothes.
Jolo Mendoza and Newsome hit consecutive triples to give Meralco a 109-87 advantage with 2:40 remaining in the payoff period.
It was a nip-and-tuck affair for most of the first half before Meralco found an opening to ignite a telling run to break free in the five minutes of the second quarter.
The Bolts shattered a 35-35 deadlock with a decisive 15-5 blast for a 50-40 advantage with 1:51 remaining in the opening half from a completed three-point play by Mitchell.
NorthPort cut it down to six off Munzon’s two foul shots with 52 seconds left but Banchero answered with a quick two before Mitchell drained a pair of charities to bring Meralco’s separation back to double-figures, 54-44, entering the intermission.
The usually efficient outside shooting of the Batang Pier was missing in the first two quarters as they missed all of their 11 treys and were quiet on transition with just eight fastbreak points.
Meralco was in control of the boards, 31-23, and took advantage off the offensive rebounds to score six second chance points while holding down NorthPort to just two in the opening half.
The Batang Pier absorbed their second loss in nine games but remained on top of the heap.
Kadeem Jack finished with a double-double of 29 points and 14 rebounds for NorthPort before calling it a day with under four minutes left and Meralco ahead by a mile.
The scores:
MERALCO (111) — Mitchell 30, Banchero 25, Newsome 15, Quinto 8, Rios 8, Cansino 7, Mendoza 6, Caram 5, Almazan 4, Reyson 2, Pascual 1, Bates 0, Hodge 0, Torres 0.
NORTHPORT (94) — Jack 29, Tolentino 19, Munzon 12, Navarro 11, Nelle 8, Onwubere 7, Miranda 5, Yu 3, Flores 0, Bulanadi 0, Taha 0, Cuntapay 0, Tratter 0.
Quarters: 24-21, 54-44, 82-69, 111-94.