Durham, Dillinger power Meralco over Mahindra for No. 4 spot

Games Friday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

4:15 p.m. – San Miguel vs NLEX

7 p.m. – Ginebra vs Alaska

MANILA, Philippines – Allen Durham played tough every inch of the way while Jared Dillinger sizzled with 22 points after a scoreless first-half stint as Meralco turned back Mahindra, 104-99, to secure No. 4 ranking in playoff play in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.

With tremendous push from Durham and Dillinger, the Bolts charged from a 16-point deficit at 41-57 and squeezed through in a tight finish to reward themselves the crucial twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

Pitted against the Enforcers themselves in the quarters, the Bolts take their first of two cracks at the semifinals on Saturday over at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.

Durham and his teammates repulsed the Enforcers twice in 11 days, handing coach Norman Black a personal milestone with his 601st career coaching win that tied the record of legendary coach Baby Dalupan. Tim Cone is on top of the ladder with 833 wins, followed by Yeng Guiao with 637.

The youthful Mahindra coach Chris Gavina gave Black anxious moments but the latter and his troops pulled through in the end with huge lift from Durham and Dillinger in the second half.

“AD (Allen Durham) has always been a solid foundation for us. A lot of credit also goes to JD (Jared Dillinger) with his clutch baskets,” said Black.

“JD knocked in big three-point shots. Normally, when JD shoots well, we win the game. Hopefully, he can keep it up in the playoffs,” Black also said.

After going 0-of-2 from the field in the first half, Dillinger cranked up in the final half, firing away 10 points in the third period and 12 in the payoff quarter to even surpass his personal season best of 20 markers.

Durham was rock solid all throughout, making 17 of his game-high 34 in the second half.

“It was a story of two halves. In the first half, we couldn’t get our game going. Offensively, we’re a step slow and couldn’t get the rebound, We just came out flat. Fortunately, I don’t know what I told the guys at the half but they came out with a lot of energy. We took the lead in the third and that was a big key,” Black said.

From their 16-point deficit at 41-57, the Bolts worked on a vicious 27-5 attack to race ahead at 68-62.

With help from Chris Newsome and Baser Amer, the Bolts held their ground in a nip-and-tuck battle in the fourth quarter.

Dillinger, Amer and Newsome led a decisive charge that had the Bolts scooting ahead at 101-94 with time down to 59.8 seconds.

Dillinger went 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, with two of those treys highlighting their surge from an 85-86 count.

Before this game, the Fil-Am forward averaged only 9.18 points a game and was 14-of-43 from the three-point land.

James White and Aldrech Ramos led the losing team with 22 and 20 points, respectively. The returning KG Canaleta added 10, including three charities that got them with two at 99-101 with 17.9 ticks left.

At 99-102, Canaleta tried to fish a foul while shooting from the three-point area off Newsome. The Meralco rookie, however, put up a good defensive stand and the Bolts went on to duplicate their 86-83 win over the Fuel Masters in their previous match on September 11.