Bolts of trey stop Kings

MANILA, Philippines – Fireballs of trey rained from the quartercourt unloaded by Meralco’s deadly gunners and the Bolts went on to take Game 3, 107-103, and a 2-1 lead over the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in the PBA Governors Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Bolts broke the back of the pursuing Gin Kings and the heart of most of the 14,000 fans behind the wondrous touch of Jimmy Alapag and Reynel Hugnatan in the fourth quarter as Meralco seized momentum anew in the gut-wrenching best-of-seven duel.

Alapag and Hugnatan rifled in huge three-pointers, Chris Newsome also scored heavily on daring drives while import Allen Durham struck from all over as the Bolts bounced back from their 79-82 loss in Game Two and regained the series’ upper hand heading to Game Four tomorrow, also at the Big Dome.

Durham knocked in two charities with time down to 8.2 seconds to finally thwart Ginebra, which pulled to within, 103-105, on Justin Brownlee’s own trey from way out, cap a big 35-point and 20-rebound performance and seal their win in another thrilling encounter with the Kings and their cheering fanatics.

“It seemed to be a game that neither team wanted to lose to the very end. We really wanted to take Game Three, and we’re now getting closer to where we want to be,” said Meralco coach Norman Black, who also steered the Bolts to a 114-109 overtime win in Game One.

Ginebra mentor Tim Cone, meanwhile, said he was upset the whole game for their poor defensive stand.

“Defensively, we’re not good. We gave away 107 points and that’s too much,” rued Cone. “We’re not playing to our identity, and it’s not the time to step away from your identity. You’ve got to stick to what brought you here, and we’re not doing that.”

Durham, Newsome, Alapag and Hugnatan all came through with explosive games, negating Brownlee’s PBA-high 42-point effort.

The Meralco quartet sustained their hot offense throughout the game, striking hardest in the payoff period where they combined for all but one of the team’s 36 points.

Hugnatan played a key part in draining three triples in the last 2:34 minutes of play, the last one giving them a 105-98 lead with time down to 42.4 seconds. He finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

“He did that against TNT, and he did that again tonight. Definitely, (his three-point shooting) was not a fluke,” said Black. “I take my hats off to him. When he makes his shots, he takes the pressure off AD (Allen Durham).”

Alapag and Newsome also stepped up with the former delivering his biggest output (18 points, including four treys) in a Meralco uniform and the latter contributing 22 markers, seven assists and three boards.

With the four complementing with each other, the Bolts repelled numerous Ginebra counterattacks.

The two imports took charge for their teams early, scattering 20 points each in the first half.

But with a better effort in rebounding, in moving the ball around and in making their shots, the Bolts wrested a four-point lead, 48-44, at the turn.