PBA Philippine Cup

Meralco triumphs as Ginebra teeters on brink of elimination

Delfin Dioquino

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Meralco triumphs as Ginebra teeters on brink of elimination

STAR ROOKIE. Alvin Pasaol delivers anew as Meralco thwarts Ginebra.

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Meralco heads into the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals on a winning note as it puts defending champion Ginebra in peril of missing the playoffs

Meralco banked on Mac Belo and Alvin Pasaol anew to push Barangay Ginebra to the brink of elimination in the PBA Philippine Cup with a 79-66 win at the DHVSU Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga on Thursday, September 23.

Belo and Pasaol finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds apiece as the Bolts, who are already guaranteed of the second seed and a twice-to-beat playoff bonus, concluded the elimination round with a 9-2 record.

While it was a no-bearing match for Meralco, the Gin Kings needed a victory to secure their place in the quarterfinals.

But the Bolts had no intentions of handing out a win as they mauled the defending all-Filipino champion from start to finish, putting Ginebra in peril of missing the playoffs in the conference it ruled nearly a year ago.

The Gin Kings threatened a comeback after cutting their deficit to just 4 points after three quarters, 51-55, but Meralco stretched its lead to as many as 16 points in the final period.

With the loss, Ginebra – which dropped to a three-way tie at 4-7 with Terrafirma and Phoenix – needs NorthPort (5-5) to beat Alaska (3-7) in the final game of the elimination round later in the day.

If the Batang Pier defeat the Aces, the Gin Kings and the Fuel Masters will duke it out in a playoff for the last quarterfinals berth.

Chris Newsome bounced back from his ejection against NLEX the day prior with 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists in the win, while Bong Quinto chalked up 8 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Jammer Jamito punished his former team Ginebra with 7 points and 9 rebounds.

Stanley Pringle netted a game-high 19 points on top of 4 rebounds and 4 steals, but the Gin Kings just lacked offensive firepower as they missed the services of injured stars Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson.

The Scores

Meralco 79 – Belo 15, Pasaol 15, Newsome 10, Quinto 8, Maliksi 7, Jamito 7, Almazan 6, Caram 4, Hodge 3, Baclao 2, Pinto 2, Jackson 0.

Barangay Ginebra 66 – Pringle 19, Standhardinger 17, Tenorio 11, Chan 7, Mariano 6, Devance 4, Dillinger 2, Enriquez 0, R. Aguilar 0, Holmqvist 0. 

Quarters: 23-15, 47-32, 55-51, 79-66. 

– 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.