Maliksi, Pinto shine as Bolts zap Hotshots to stay alive

CEBU, Philippines —  The Meralco Bolts lived and fight for another day after escaping with a 102-98 victory over the Magnolia Hotshots in Game 5 of the best-of-seven 46th PBA Philippine Cup semifinals last night at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.

Allein Maliksi and Nards Pinto stole the show as the Bolts sliced their deficit to 2-3 aside from getting a shot at equalizing the series in Game 6 scheduled at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Maliksi unloaded a conference-best 29 points, including a pair of crucial 3-pointers in the closing minutes of the contest that bailed the Bolts out of danger.

Not to be outdone, Pinto fired a career-high 24 points as the Bolts overcame the absence of top gunner Chris Newsome in the fourth quarter to gain a new lease on life.

Newsome nailed 23 markers before being disqualified with six fouls at the final 7:10 mark. The Hotshots enjoyed a six-point edge at that time, 85-79, but Maliksi took matters into his own hands to help the Bolts extend the series to at least one more game.

Maliksi, who bombarded the Hotshots with a total of seven triples, churned out nine straight points starting off with three gift shots from the stripe that shattered a 90-all deadlock with 3:28 left to play.

Center Raymond Almazan, who just got back from a two-game absence due to ankle injury, made his presence felt by drilling in three charities in the last 10 seconds to seal the deal for the Bolts. Almazan finished with nine points and 10 rebounds in a near double-double show.

“We had our backs against the wall and it was a very gritty performance on the part of the players to go out and battle the entire game,” said Meralco coach Norman Black, whose wards had to dig out of a 19-30 hole early on before gaining a lifeline.

“We caught Magnolia on a good night. They really played well to try to shut us off and eliminate us but we stood our ground. We made some big shots down the stretch, kept our composure and gave ourselves a chance to come back in the series,” Black added.

Mark Barroca topscored for the Hotshots with 25 points. Calvin Abueva chipped in 19 markers, Ian Sangalang scored 15 on top of 14 boards while Paul Lee had 13 points but went scoreless in the final period.