Meralco shrugs off rust, thwarts Mahindra

Games Tuesday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

4:15 p.m. – NLEX vs San Miguel

7 p.m. – Globalport vs Rain or Shine

MANILA, Philippines – Meralco overcame stiffness and rustiness from a long 15-day layoff, hitting its strides in time to repel Mahindra, 94-86, and inch closer to a Top Two finish in the Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.

Trailing most of the way, the Bolts stole the game in the end on a fourth-quarter siege highlighted by a telling 13-0 closing romp by Baser Amer, Cliff Hodge and Jimmy Alapag.

Hodge came up with a key five-point binge at the finish to cap his biggest game in the season with 25 points and 11 rebounds, with Arinze Onuaku and Chris Newsome also proving to be big factors as the Bolts hung onto the lead with a 7-2 win-loss card.

 Onuaku had his own solid double-double game with 16 markers and 15 boards while Newsome churned out a sterling all-around game with 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as Meralco foiled Mahindra’s bid at an outright playoff crack at the last quarters berth.

The Enforcers stayed at eighth place at 4-5, just half-game ahead of the Star Hotshots (4-6) and one game in front of the Phoenix Fuel Masters (3-6).

It was Mahindra’s game until the Enforcers went scoreless in the last 3:39 of play. Before getting into that fatal dry spell, Mahindra was leading by five at 86-81. The Enforcers led by as many as 14 early on.

“I was concern about the game mainly because we’re off for 15 days, and that’s a very long time to be off the basketball court,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.

“We’re very rusty defensively and offensively in the first quarter. In the second quarter, we got a little better, but even then Mahindra played well, making it tough for us to score on their post defense. We gained some headway towards the end of the third and at the start of the fourth,” Black pointed out.

Through the efforts of Hodge, Newsome, Alapag, Amer, Jared Dillinger and Reynel Hugnatan, the Bolts rallied from a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth and blazed through to the finish for the crucial victory.

 Amer drained a trey to push Meralco up at 87-86, then Hodge knocked in a jumper then came through with a three-point play as Meralco put the game away for good at 92-86.