Bolts zap Gin Kings in wire-to-wire win

MANILA, Philippines -- The Meralco Bolts started hot and kept their pedal to the metal as they dealt the sluggish Barangay Ginebra San Miguel their first loss of the PBA Philippine Cup, 91-73, in the PBA Philippine Cup Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

It was a wire-to-wire affair that saw the Gin Kings reach their lowest scoring output in the current season.

Ginebra’s previous season low was 77, when they bowed to the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 82-77, in the Commissioner’s Cup last year.

It was a dominating win for the Bolts, who saw the Gin Kings commit five turnovers in the first quarter alone.

With the crowd darlings’ horrible start, the Bolts took a double-digit lead, 19-8, in the first canto.

Meralco then continued to pounce on their foes, who simply could not shake off their opponent’s gritty defense.

The lead grew to as much as 31 points, 71-40, in the third quarter with a 3-pointer by Allein Maliksi.

Ginebra was able to cut the lead down to 19, 90-71, thanks to a pair of free throws by Von Pessumal.

It was the closest the Gin Kings got to.

Allein Maliksi exploded for 25 points in 23 minutes off the bench.

Chris Newsome and Aaron Black chipped in 19 and 12 points, respectively.

Mav Ahanmisi scored 14 points and hauled down six rebounds for Ginebra.

Christian Standhardinger and Japeth Aguilar both had 13 markers each.

The Bolts were able to steal the ball 10 times and forced the Gin Kings to commit 19 turnovers.

Meralco also forced Ginebra to make just 20 of their 60 attempts from the field, while converting 35 of their 85 shots.

The 2-3 Bolts will now go on a three-week break and will face the Terrafirma Dyip on April 3.

Meanwhile, the Gin Kings, who dropped to 2-1, will take on the Magnolia Hotshots next.