High-powered Bolts fry Kings, move up to solo third

MANILA,Philippines — With a sustained power surge, Meralco fried Barangay Ginebra, 101-77, to seize solo third in the PBA Governors’ Cup last night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Bolts import Allen Durham delivered another tour de force performance, piling up 39 big points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to spark Meralco to the runaway triumph – their sixth in nine outings – that put them closer to pacesetting NLEX and TNT KaTropa (both with 7-1).

“A little bit of an understatement but offensively and defensively we played really well, obviously led by Allen Durham who really got us off to a great start in the first half offensively and also as far as controlling the boards,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.

Durham banged in 23 in the first 24 minutes, fuelling the Bolts to an initial 26-15 upperhand that they later stretched to a 53-32 tear entering the break.  

With Bong Quinto (13), Chris Newsome (11), Raymond Almazan (10) and Baser Amer (eight) complementing their do-it-all reinforcement, Black’s wards pounded on the Gin Kings the rest of the way to seal the blow-out.

“It was a good team game. AD came out and did a good job offensively, he’s hitting his three-pointers, he’s scoring inside, he just really set the tone for the game and the rest of his teammates followed,” said Black.

Durham outplayed Ginebra counterpart Justin Brownlee, who finished with 18-7-3 in the post All Souls’ Day game, which saw the Gin Kings’ four-game roll snapped. Ginebra dropped to joint fourth with San Miguel at 5-3.

Earlier, Alaska scored a crucial 106-99 victory over NorthPort to improve its quarters bid on the same night it officially dealt ace playmaker Chris Banchero to Magnolia.

Notes: The PBA Commissioner’s Office approved the Alaska-Magnolia trade Sunday night while also giving the greenlight to the swap between TNT KaTropa and Blackwater. As such, Elite rookie Ray Parks officially joined the KaTropa while former TNT players Don Trollano and Anthony Semerad plus TNT’s 2021 first-round pick headed to Blackwater.