Meralco trips Ginebra to force do-or-die Game 7 in Govs’ Cup finals

Delfin Dioquino

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Meralco trips Ginebra to force do-or-die Game 7 in Govs’ Cup finals

Josh Albelda

The Meralco Bolts extend the series to a do-or-die Game 7

BOCAUE, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Meralco Bolts clicked on all cylinders to churn out a 98-91 win over the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in Game 6 and force a do-or-die Game 7 in the PBA Governors’ Cup finals at the Philippine Arena Wednesday, October 25.

Ginebra, which trailed 86-90 with more the 3 minutes to go, still had a chance to mount a comeback but Meralco unloaded a game-clinching 8-2 run to extend the series to a rubber match. 

The Bolts limited the Gin Kings to only a single field goal in the final 3:45 minutes as they hauled down offensive rebound after offensive rebound. 

“The battlecry for my team tonight was just to play on Friday. We wanted to have another chance to play on Friday and we just wanted to do whatever we had to do to win this game for us to have a chance to do that,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.  

Meralco had its best shooting night in the series so far, knocking down 12 triples en route to a respectable 43 percent clip from deep. The Bolts also dominated Ginebra in the rebounding (51-41), assists (24-16) and steals departments (8-1).

It was a complete team effort for Meralco as Allen Durham, who had another monster performance of 28 points and 19 rebounds, got the help he needed with 3 other Bolts finishing in double figures.

Reynel Hugnatan continue to impress for the Bolts as he notched 24 points on 6 triples to go with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals while Garvo Lanete added 15 markers.

The Bolts zoomed to a 20-point lead in the second quarter, 44-24, before Ginebra came back in the third period behind a 14-2 run that trimmed the deficit to just 6 points, 57-63.  

Justin Brownlee paced the Gin Kings with 23 points, 9 boards, 4 assists and two steals while Greg Slaughter chipped in 18 markers and 6 rebounds.

Game 7 of the finals will be on Friday, October 27 at the same venue.

Scores:  

Meralco (98): Durham 28, Hugnatan 24, Lanete 15, Newsome 10, Dillinger 9, Amer 6, Hodge 6, Caram 0 

Ginebra (91): Brownlee 23, Slaughter 18, Tenorio 12, Thompson 12, Devance 11, Aguilar 6, Caguioa 6, Ferrer 3, Taha 0 

Quarter scores: 29-17, 54-37, 75-69, 98-91. – Rappler.com

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Delfin Dioquino

Delfin Dioquino dreamt of being a PBA player, but he did not have the skills to make it. So he pursued the next best thing to being an athlete – to write about them. He took up journalism at the University of Santo Tomas and joined Rappler as soon as he graduated in 2017.