MANILA, Philippines – Cliff Hodge and Meralco finally got over their playoff hump against Barangay Ginebra.

Playing a crucial role on both ends, Hodge earned the PBA Player of the Week honors for the period of July 27 to 31 as the Bolts beat the Gin Kings in a playoff series for the first time to reach the Philippine Cup semifinals.

In the do-or-die Game 3, Hodge put up 13 points, 18 rebounds, and 2 assists, including the pivotal offensive foul he drew from Ginebra star Scottie Thompson in the endgame, paving the way for Meralco to hang on to a 106-104 win.

The Filipino-American forward averaged 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in two games throughout the week as the Bolts got the monkey off their backs after going 0-6 in previous playoff encounters against the Gin Kings.

Rising to the occasion, Hodge also delivered a conference-high 25 points on top of 5 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals, albeit in an 87-94 loss that allowed Ginebra to tie the best-of-three series.

“I’m just so proud of everybody in our team. We stuck together,” said acting Meralco coach Luigi Trillo, who continues to fill in for head coach Norman Black.

The Bolts’ Chris Newsome, Raymond Almazan, Allein Maliksi, and Alvin Pasaol were also nominated for the weekly citation being handed out by the men and women regularly covering the PBA beat.

Also considered for the award were TNT trio Mikey Williams, Troy Rosario, and RR Pogoy, San Miguel quartet June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Jericho Cruz, and Marcio Lassiter, and the Magnolia big three of Ian Sangalang, Calvin Abueva, and Paul Lee. – Rappler.com