Bolts seal Top six spot

MANILA, Philippines —  Meralco firmed up its standing in the Top 6 of the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals. Along the way, the Bolts sealed a woeful 0-11 campaign for exiting Terrafirma.

With Chris Newsome leading a collective effort, the Bolts booked a routine 105-89 triumph over the winless Dyip to finish the elims with a 7-4 card last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Ending the preliminaries with back-to-back wins, the Bolts assured themselves of fourth or fifth spot in the Last-8. This means they play in a best-of-three entanglement instead of facing a twice-to-win disadvantage against the No. 1 or 2.

Newsome scattered 19 points spiked by a 4-of-5 three-point clip to go with six rebounds and five assists while Aaron Black shot 16 and Raymond Almazan dropped 14 with nine boards in the game where they led by as many as 19 at 100-81.

“This was Terrafirma’s last game and they came to play. It was a tough game, we had to earn it, “ said Meralco’s acting coach Luigi Trillo.

“Important thing was, since coach Norman (Black) left, we had five games and won four so we got the job done. Now what matters is at least we solidified ourselves in a best-of-three,” he added.

The Bolts brace for either Magnolia or Ginebra in the quarters.

“I can’t be prouder of everybody, from the players to the coaching staff. Coach Norman’s not here so we have to do what we do. At least moving forward, we’re there, in the playoffs,” said Trillo.

Allein Maliksi (14) and Bong Quinto (13) also produced double-digit outputs for Meralco, which pulled away with an 18-5 blast late in the first canto.

Later, Barangay Ginebra beat a Matthew Wright-less Phoenix side, 100-93, to grab solo third at 8-3. The Fuel Masters wrapped up their stint with 3-8.

Aldrech Ramos topscored with 24 for the Dyip, who posted a winless record for the first time since the 2017 Governors’ Cup under the Kia Picanto banner.

Meanwhile, NLEX (5-5) and Blackwater (5-5) gun for a crucial victory against separate rivals today as they bid to avoid a disadvantageous position in the quarterfinals.

The Road Warriors target win No. 6 versus also-ran NorthPort (3-7) at 3 p.m. while the Bossing seek the same against red-hot Magnolia (7-3) at 6 p.m.