Bishop, Meralco jolt NLEX to stay perfect as PBA Governors' Cup resumes

MANILA, Philippines – Tony Bishop waxed hot from the get-go to steer unbeaten Meralco to a 110-100 win over NLEX in the first game of the PBA Governors’ Cup restart at the Araneta Coliseum on Friday, February 11.

Bishop sizzled for 14 of his team-high 32 points in the opening quarter as he set the tone for the Bolts, who improved to 3-0 and dealt the Road Warriors their second straight loss following a 4-0 start to the conference.

Showing no signs of rust after a month-long conference postponement, Bishop shot an efficient 12-of-20 clip (60%) from the field and churned out 13 rebounds and 8 assists in a near triple-double display.

Although Bishop slowed down with his scoring, the Meralco locals picked up where he left off as the Bolts enjoyed a lead as big as 20 points and never got threatened.

Sophomore guard Aaron Black backstopped Bishop with 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals, Chris Newsome delivered 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals, while Allein Maliksi put up 17 points off 4 three-pointers.

Cliff Hodge did the dirty work for Meralco with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

NLEX shaved its deficit to single digits off a KJ McDaniels putback dunk late, 100-108, but the Road Warriors ran out of time to stage a last-ditch comeback with only 40 seconds left.

McDaniels saw his 41-point, 12-rebound, 3-block masterclass go down the drain as NLEX fell behind early, with the Bolts enjoying a 15-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

Kevin Alas chalked up 16 points and 5 rebounds off the bench in the loss, while Calvin Oftana had 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Gilas Pilipinas draftee Matt Nieto made his presence felt for the Road Warriors in his PBA debut with 10 points and 2 assists in 21 minutes of play.

The Scores

Meralco 110 – Bishop 32, Black 19, Newsome 18, Maliksi 17, Hodge 11, Quinto 6, Caram 4, Almazan 3, Belo 0, Canete 0, Pasaol 0.

NLEX 100 – McDaniels 41, Alas 16, Oftana 10, Nieto 10, Semerad 6, Cruz 6, Ighalo 5, Trollano 2, Varilla 2, Quiñahan 2, Rosales 0, Soyud 0, Magat 0.

Quarters: 33-18, 62-45, 88-74, 110-100.

– 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.