Meralco will go as far as where Chris Newsome will take it.

Newsome churned out all-around numbers as Meralco dragged Barangay Ginebra to a rubber match in their best-of-five semifinals duel in the PBA Philippine Cup with a gritty 83-80 win.

Meralco teetered on the brink of elimination after wasting a 15-point lead but relied on Newsome – who finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 6 steals, and 5 assists – to stay alive.

“He is to us what [Stanley] Pringle is to Ginebra,” said Meralco head coach Norman Black. “He is our best player. I’m not afraid to say that.”

“He is our leading scorer, one of our leading rebounders, a leading assists guy, and he has to defend the best player on the other team almost every game. We count on him a lot.”

Limited to just 6 points through the first 3 periods, Newsome hit his stride when it mattered most as he unloaded 10 fourth-quarter points on an ultra-efficient 5-of-6 clip from the field.

Newsome assisted on the Reynel Hugnatan shot that gave Meralco the upper hand, 81-80, with 15 ticks left and then converted the breakaway layup in the waning seconds that completely closed all doors on Ginebra.

His performance proved to be a major upgrade from his showing in their Game 3 defeat, where Newsome struggled offensively and shot a woeful 2-of-10 from the field.

“The fact that he did not play that well in the last game was one of the reasons why we did not win. The fact that he played well tonight is one of the reasons why we won,” Black said.

“As always, we kind of go as he goes.”

Meralco will once again bank on Newsome as it shoots for its first playoff series win over Ginebra and its first All-Filipino finals berth. – Rappler.com