MERALCO overcame a tough stand by Phoenix Super LPG to eke out an 82-76 victory Friday and stay alive in the hunt for playoffs seats in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Aaron Black led all scorers with 18 points, but baskets by Allein Maliksi and Chris Banchero and some free throws by Bong Quinto down the stretch enabled the Bolts to hold off the Fuel Masters and ultimately snap out of a two-game slide.
Now with a 4-5 record and a hold on eighth-running spot, Meralco aims to rack up more wins against Magnolia on Sunday and San Miguel Beer next Saturday to cement its claim on a quarterfinals slot.
At the moment, coach Luigi Trillo is simply relieved after foiling Phoenix's bid to put the shoe on the other foot. "That team has no quit in them," he said.
"We're both down in the teams standings right now so every game is important. Both teams backs are against the wall and something's gotta give. You lose one you're probably out of it already. It's hard to knock out a team like Phoenix with injuries all around. Different team, but you saw they were sharp today in terms of the way they played."
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Meralco's celebrations were somewhat tempered, however, by the fact that Chris Newsome and Cliff Hodge both went out with knee injuries in the dying seconds of the match.
Both are set to undergo tests Saturday.
The loss dropped Phoenix to a 3-7 slate that kept it at 11th spot. The Fuel Masters are now left hoping they prevail over Blackwater also next Saturday and that four wins would be enough to tie for one of the last playoff spots.
Coach Jamike Jarin's charges did put up a gallant stand, charging back from a 64-75 deficit behind RR Garcia and Kenneth Tuffin to threaten within 72-75. They even had the chance to inch closer when Raul Soyud pulled off a steal on Newsome.
But Garcia wasted his heroics when Maliksi stole his inside pass and then converted on a layup that made it a 77-72 count.
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Javee Mocon countered with his own layup, but Banchero coolly boomed in a pull-up jumper that again made it a two-possession game going to the last 22.8 seconds.
Quinto then went 3-of-4 in successive tripes to the charity lane to counter Tuffin's near-triple and peg the final count. (NC)
The Scores:
MERALCO 82 - Black 18, Newsome 15, Banchero 14, Maliksi 13, Hodge 6, Caram 6, Bates 4, Almazan 3, Quinto 3, Pasaol 0, Torres 0, Pascual 0.
PHOENIX 76 - Tuffin 14, Salado 12, Jazul 9, Rivero 9, Mocon 7, Garcia 6, Perkins 5, Muyang 4, Verano 4, Alejandro 3, Soyud 3, Daves 0, Camacho 0.
QUARTERS: 24-21, 34-38, 60-53, 82-76
