Shorthanded Bolts stay alive, stun Gin Kings

BOCAUE, Bulacan — Fighting for survival, Meralco dug deep. And they did so on Sunday night with their signature grit.

In a rematch of the previous conference’s championship series, the Bolts zapped Barangay Ginebra through their role players, 84-82, at the Philippine Arena to remain in the hunt for a spot in the quarterfinals.

"I know it sounds cliché, it sounds corny, but you know we just said ‘This is our championship. Let's just play our hearts out. What do we have to lose? Let's give it our best shot and see what happens,’” shared Meralco head coach Norman Black.

"And that's what the players did tonight,” he continued. "A lot of guys were very important for us in this game.”

Four Bolts chimed in double-digit productions. Garvo Lanete, still riding high from his career-best outing in the previous game, paced his squad with 19 points. Anjo Caram added 16 while Chris Newsome and Reynel Hugnatan tallied 12 apiece.

Meralco has been dealt with bad hands in the Philippine Cup. Cliff Hodge was ruled out of the conference due to an MCL sprain. Ranidel de Ocampo remains sidelined while Jared Dillinger hasn’t fully recovered from an injury. 

But the most compelling performance was the one mounted by veteran Jason Ballesteros — who  against Ginebra’s behemoths in Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar and a returning Joe Devance — held his own.

Ballesteros, who could be remembered as being part of the early editions of Gilas Pilipinas, notched  a career-best 17 boards and stuck like a lint on Aguilar during the Gin King's bid to win the game through a three-point shot.