Chris Newsome (Courtesy of PBA Image)
MANILA – Chris Newsome stood tallest in Meralco’s balanced attack to hold off No. 1 seed Magnolia in a do-or-die Game 5 to arrange another duel with rival Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Governors’ Cup finals.
The seasoned guard did it all for the Bolts, canning 14.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 2.5 steals in the last two games of the best-of-five semifinals which they won, 3-2.
The Fil-Am guard thus emerged as the Cignal Play-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week, the last for the season-ending conference.
Newsome beat out Meralco teammate Allein Maliksi in close voting for the weekly honor being handed out by the men and women regularly covering the PBA beat.
The 6-foot-2 combo guard settled for 11 points, three rebounds, five assists, and two steals in Meralco’s 112-93 loss in Game 4 before saving his best for last in the rubber match, 94-81.
With the Bolts’ season on the line, Newsome sizzled for 18 points including 11 in a telling fourth-quarter run, while dishing out 12 assists, eight rebounds, three steals, and a block.
Newsome’s heroics also included six straight points for the Bolts in the last two minutes to assure the gritty victory over the Hotshots that badly missed the services of injured import Mike Harris late in the game.
Aside from his pal Maliksi, Newsome also bested teammate Aaron Black as well as Jeff Chan, LA Tenorio, and Nard Pinto of Ginebra for the weekly citation.
Ginebra beat NLEX, 3-1, in the other semis pairing.
The Meralco-Ginebra championship series starts on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. (PR)
