Durham lifts Bolts past Warriors

MANILA, Philippines – Allen Durham came up with yet another superb all-around effort while reserve guard Baser Amer struck in the clutch in the absence of Jimmy Alapag as Meralco held off NLEX, 101-95, to stick it out with the frontrunners in the PBA Governors Cup elimination round at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Durham piled up 31 points, 17 rebounds and five assists while Amer scored all of his seven markers with the game in the balance in the last 90 seconds of the contest.

Cliff Hodge, Chris Newsome, Jared Dillinger and Kelly Nabong also played key roles early on as the Bolts chalked up a second straight win and closed in on TNT KaTropa (6-0), Barangay Ginebra (5-2) and Mahindra (5-2) with a 5-3 win-loss record.

NLEX fell one rung down to seventh place at 3-4, allowing Rain or Shine (3-3) to gain solo sixth.

“This was a really good team effort on our part today. We really showed we are a team in this game,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.

“Allen Durham is perhaps the best import around, but we got a lot of contributions from a lot of people. Newsome, Dillinger, Hodge and Nabong had their contributions and Amer made crucial shots in the end,” Black added.

Amer, who missed all his first six field-goal attempts, nailed two charities then banged away a three-pointer and a twinner in a sudden explosion at endgame to personally lift the Bolts past the Road Warriors.

The Bolts were barely ahead at 90-88 when the former San Beda chief point guard got away with his crucial binge at the finish.

Amer also came through with seven assists, four rebounds, two steals and one block in 25  minutes of action in the absence of Alapag who suffered a calf injury.

Anjo Caram, another former Bedan, alternated with Amer at the point sans another Meralco guard Jonathan Uyloan.

Before this game, Amer was playing only 15 minutes a game, submitting mere averages of 4.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists.

Black said he allowed Alapag to rest as he’s preserving him for the most crucial part of the tourney.

The Bolts built a double-digit spread, 44-34, in the first half but the Road Warriors threatened to turn the game around in the third, 64-58.

June Mar Fajardo scored a personal conference high of 37 points and San Miguel Beer bucked the absence of import AZ Reid, carving out a come-from-behind 106-103 win over Alaska Milk to move back to joint second place at 5-2 later in the night.

“It’s a huge, huge one for us because we played without an import. Good thing, all the players were challenged and stepped up in the contest,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

With Reid’s playing status uncertain, Austria said the team will try to bring in a temporary import replacement.