Jul 17, 2019

Meralco lives another day, earns playoff vs. Alaska for last quarterfinals berth

MERALCO dropped the upset ax on San Miguel, 95-91, to stay alive for the remaining quarterfinals berth in the PBA Commissioner's Cup Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Import Delroy James outplayed highly-touted counterpart Chris McCollough down the stretch by scoring the last six points of the Bolts and help clinched the win that earned them a playoff against Alaska for the eighth and last quarterfinals slot.

Thanks to the 34-point, five-rebound, and six-assist effort of James, Meralco ended its five-game losing skid and ended the eliminations with a 4-7 record in a tie with Phoenix and Alaska.

Owing to an inferior quotient, the Fuel Masters are eliminated outright, with the Aces and Bolts disputing the final playoffs berth this Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

"It was a game we really needed. We really need it just to stay alive," said coach Norman Black.

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"Delroy really came through in the clutch and he hit the key baskets down the stretch," he added. "So we get to live another day to fight Alaska. I know that's going to be a tough game for us, but at least we have a chance for a playoff now."

San Miguel saw its three-game winning run came to a halt and finished with a 5-6 record. The Beermen could either finish at no. 6 or at no. 7, where they faced the prospect of needing to overcome a twice-to-beat disadvantage to advance deeper into the playoffs.

Jones had a lot to do with the fate suffered by the Beermen as he took charge for the Bolts in the final 2:52 of the tightly-fought match.

He scored on a driving lay-up to push Meralco on top, 91-89, and after June Mar Fajardo tied the game for the last time, Jones again delivered with another drive to the basket that put the Bolts in front to stay, 93-91.

Jones then capped his heroics by stripping the ball away from McCullough and then scored anew on the other end to stretch the Meralco lead to four time down to 32 seconds.

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Chris Newsome had another busy offensive night for Meralco with 20 points while adding six rebounds and six assists. Raymund Almazan played his best game for the team this conference with 15 points including nine in the second quarter, and had seven rebounds.

McCullough finished with 27 points and 16 rebounds for San Miguel, but shot 11-of-25 from the field and committed nine turnovers.

Fajardo backed him up with 27 points and 13 rebounds, while Terrence Romeo added eight for the Beermen, who missed the services of veteran guard Alex Cabagnot. (RG)

The scores

Meralco (95) - James 34, Newsome 20, Almazan 15, Faundo 10, Amer 8, Jackson 3, Quinto 3, Hodge 2, Salva 0, De Ocampo 0.

San Miguel (91) - McCullough 27, Fajardo 27, Romeo 11, Standhardinger 9, Santos 6, Lassiter 3, Nabing 3, Pessumal 3, Ross 2, Rosser 0.

Quarterscores: 22-21; 42-42; 74-70; 95-91.