(Courtesy of Meralco Bolts Facebook)
MANILA – Meralco moved a step closer to a twice-to-beat advantage in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup after sending Blackwater to a disreputable league record with a 104-97 win at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga on Saturday.
The Bolts surged ahead in the first half but needed to hold on in the end after the Bossing mounted a comeback bid, hoping to close out their stint in the season-opening conference with a victory.
Meralco raced to a 31-14 first-quarter lead even as the lead swelled to 23 at halftime, 61-38.
Blackwater came to as close as six, 97-103, with 1:10 left and had a chance to inch even nearer after forcing Meralco to a 24-second violation in the next play.
However, the Bossing failed to hit their shots the rest of the way.
On his 34th birthday, Allein Maliksi had 21 points and 10 rebounds to pace Meralco, which moved up to 7-2, half a game ahead of Magnolia (7-3) and a full game better than San Miguel (6-3) for second spot.
Raymond Almazan added 15 points, 17 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.
KG Canaleta, Mike Tolomia, and Richard Escoto each tallied 15 points off the bench for Blackwater, which lost for the 19th straight time dating back to last season.
The squad surpassed the 18-game skid of the now-disbanded Great Taste during the 1980 season for the longest losing streak in PBA history.
The scores:
MERALCO 104 - Maliksi 21, Almazan 15, Jackson 14, Hugnatan 14, Quinto 10, Belo 8, Caram 8, Pasaol 7, Badao 6, Jamito 1, Jose 0, Pinto 0.
BLACKWATER 97 - Canaleta 15, Tolomia 15, Escoto 15, Enciso 14, Torralba 12, Daquioag 9, Magat 8, Cruz 4, Golla 3, Dennison 2, Paras 0, Semerad 0, Amer o, Desiderio 0, Nabong 0.
Quarters: 31-14, 61-38, 85-71, 104-97. (PNA)
