MANILA, Philippines – The Meralco Bolts used a balanced offensive attack to surge past the Blackwater Elite, 102-91, and claim their sixth win of the 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Five played scored in double-digits for the Bolts, with Jared Dillinger tallying 21 points including the dagger three-pointer that gave them a 12-point cushion, 100-88, with 47.8 seconds left to play. Kelly Nabong had 13 points off the bench, 11 of which came in the final period. Import Alex Stepheson had 18 points, 15 boards, and six assists.
The Bolts improved to 6-1, while dropping Blackwater to 1-5 in the midseason conference.
"So I can really say that our defense won us this game tonight, particularly in the second half," he added.
The Elite led 48-44 at the half, then leaned on KG Canaleta's third-quarter explosion to pull away even further, 80-72, at the end of the third frame. The veteran Canaleta had 14 points in the period, several of which came on difficult turnaround jump shots, to frustrate the Meralco defense.
Meralco was quick to rally in the fourth period, however. With both teams opting to field in an all-Filipino line-up, the Bolts scored six straight points, five of which came from Nabong, to make it a one-possession game, 78-80, with 10:22 left.
Even the re-entry of Blackwater import Greg Smith barely fazed the Bolts, as Nabong continued to splash jumpers from midrange. Rookie Ed Daquioag provided an additional boost off the bench with back-to-back lay-ups in transition, including the bonus free throw that pushed Meralco ahead for good, 85-84, with 7:21 left to play.
A three-point play by Stepheson off a dime from Baser Amer put the finishing touches on Meralco's 18-4 run that put them on top, 90-84, with five minutes left.
"We played much better in the second half," said Black. "I thought our defense was much stronger in the second, particularly against Smith."
"In the second half, we did a better job of keeping Alex matched-up with Smith instead of having a local on him all the time, particularly in the end game," he added.
Blackwater came to within four points, 88-92, with 2:41 left off a Ronjay Buenafe lay-up, but Meralco responded with a Stepheson bucket, a transition lay-up from Chris Newsome, and the dagger triple by Dillinger to put the game out of reach.
After giving up 80 points through three frames, Meralco only allowed Blackwater to score 11 points in the fourth period. They finished the game with a massive 51-30 advantage on rebounds, including 15 offensive rebounds that led to 13 second chance points.
Smith finished the game with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists, but only Mike Di Gregorio (16 points) and Canaleta (14) were in double-digits for the Elite.
The scores:
MERALCO 102 - Dillinger 21, Stepheson 18, Newsome 14, Nabong 13, Amer 12, Hugnanatn 9, Daquioag 7, Yeo 4, Chua 4, Uyloan 0, Caram 0.
Quarterscores: 22-24, 44-48, 72-80, 102-91.
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