Bolts trip E-Painters, fan q’final hopes

MANILA, Philippines - Jonathan Uyloan churned in a stirring game against his former team as the Meralco Bolts topped the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 82-72, to keep their flickering playoff hopes alive in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome last night.

Cliff Hodge and Chris Newsome also came through with impressive numbers while Jared Dillinger returned from a long layoff to help the Bolts end a six-game slump and move up to 10th place with a 3-7 win-loss slate.

The Bolts, however, will still need to win their last game against the Star Hotshots next Saturday and hope that at least one among the Alaska Milk Aces, the Barangay Ginebra Kings and the Hotshots drop their remaining games to get a crack at the playoff for the last quarterfinals berth.

Hodge delivered a double-double job with 17 points and 16 rebounds, Newsome top scored with 19 markers and added six assists and four rebounds while Uyloan logged 14 markers, six boards, five assists and five steals as they joined forces to fashion out the win and stall Rain or Shine’s own drive for the playoff.

Rain or Shine’s bid for a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarters was also stymied by a second straight defeat that dropped the E-Painters down to 5-4 in a tie with the Phoenix Fuel Masters and the TNT KaTropa Texters at joint third.

Later in the night, Barangay Ginebra bucked Japeth Aguilar’s early exit on a muscle strain in his right hand and withstood Blackwater, 99-90, to also move up to joint third.

Jervy Cruz and Dave Marcelo ably filled in for Aguilar, with the reserve Ginebra frontliners combining for 29 points as they helped the Gin Kings score a first back-to-back triumph that enhanced their playoff hopes.

Aguilar had made his 14th marker in the game on a two-handed jam on transition play when he hurt his right hand on an awkward fall with 3:30 left in the second quarter.

LA Tenorio, Joe Devance and Scottie Thompson also stepped up on Aguilar’s exit, and Ginebra went on to relegate Blackwater down to seventh place at 5-5.

With an 8-1 win-loss record, San Miguel is way upfront, needing just one win in its last three games to gain top honors in the one-round-robin elimination phase. A win over GlobalPort in their 5 p.m. tiff will make the Beermen the playoff top seeds for a twice-to-beat advantage versus the eighth-ranked team in the quarterfinals.

San Miguel behemoth June Mar Fajardo and sweet-shooting GlobalPort frontliner JR Quiñahan are both likely to dish out sterling games before their Cebuano provincemates.

“We keep our hopes, but we still need to win and we don’t have control of our destiny at this point,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.

“It’s just nice to see the players put up a lot of effort. We got a lot of deflection today defensively,” he added.

The Bolts also clamped down on defense, holding the E-Painters to an awful 26-of-84 shooting (30 percent).

Meralco buckled down to work from the opening tip and the Bolts pulled away early, 35-20, with Uyloan at the forefront of their attack with 11 points.

After going scoreless in the next two quarters, Uyloan broke his silence by firing a trey that iced their win at 80-69 with a little over a minute left to play.

Dillinger, playing his first game in the season after a long bout with a calf injury, started the game with Hodge, Uyloan, Newsome and Reynel Hugnatan, chipping in five rebounds, three points and two assists against three turnovers in 27:45 minutes of action.

Meanwhile, James Yap was the lone bright spot for the struggling ROS team with the two-time MVP winner making 17 points, four rebounds and three assists.

The scores:

First Game

MERALCO 82 – Newsome 19, Hodge 17,  Uyloan 14, Al-Hussaini 10, Chua 9, Hugnatan 4,  Dillinger 3, Daquioag 2, Grey 2, Amer 0.

RAIN OR SHINE 72 – Yap 17, Ponferada 11, Chan 9, Cruz 9, Belga 7, Trollano 7, Washington 6, Tiu 4, Norwood 2, Ahanmisi 0, Matias 0.

Quarterscores: 35-20, 49-35, 68-56, 82-72

Second Game

GINEBRA 99 - Cruz 16, Tenorio 15, Aguilar 14, Thompson 13, Devance 13, Marcelo 13, Ellis 6, Mercado 5, Ferrer 2, Caguioa 2, Taha 0.

BLACKWATER 90 - Sumang 20, Belo 16, Aguilar 16, Sena 14, Dela Cruz 7, Gamalinda 6, Miranda 5, Buenafe 4, Pascual 2, Ababou 0, Pinto 0.

Quarterscores: 25-23, 53-40, 80-71, 99-90