Meralco Kia break

MANILA, Philippines — Meralco made a mincemeat of Kia, 105-76, to bounce back from a sorry loss early this week during Wednesday night’s PBA hostilities at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

KG Canaleta got his veteran stroke going early in the first period to dictate the tempo. But it was a balanced attack from the Bolts that enabled them to pull away as the game entered the second period.

Jared Dillinger, Anjo Caram and Baser Amer all poured double-digit scoring to help in the effort and to send Picanto who were coming off from an upset against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters last week.

“Well it was nice to see my players play with a lot of effort tonight and we played with a little bit of purpose on defense right from the very start and it carried over for the entire game,” Meralco head coach Norman Black said.
 
“That’s what we’re going to need to do in the future games if we want to come up with some wins. We have to play defense which is really what I’m preaching right now. I just thought we just had so much more energy and effort tonight than we’ve displayed last game versus TNT. Hopefully that will continue in the future games,” he added.

Rashawn McCarthy again paced Kia with 17 points. Skipper Mark Yee and Jon Jon Gabriel added 14 and 13 respectively but their effort was all for naught as the Picanto were unable to mount a comeback in the second half.

The 29-point blowout scripted by Meralco equals their outing against Blackwater last year for their third-biggest rout in franchise history. Their widest blowout—as many as 34 points—came in 2015 versus TNT, followed by a 33-point whipping of Air21 a year later.

The now 2-3 Bolts take on Batang Pier on Sunday also at the Big Dome while the 1-5 Picanto faces a tough stretch to be kicked off by a tussle with TNT Wednesday next week.

The Scores:

Meralco 105 - Canaleta 17, Dillinger 13, Caram 12, Amer 10, Hodge 8, Faundo 8, Hugnatan 7, Tolomia 7, Ballesteros 6, Newsome 6, Baracael 5, Salva 5, Sedurifa 1, Lanete 0, Bono 0.

Kia 76 - McCarthy 17, Yee 14, Gabriel 13, Galanza 9, Tubid 8, Celda 8, Caperal 3, Jamon 2, Sara 2, Khobuntin 0, Cabrera 0, Ababou 0.

Quarterscores: 27-21, 60-41, 79-58, 105-76.