Meralco averts collapse, holds off TNT

Sports

THE Meralco Bolts survived an endgame scare from the TNT Tropang 5G to pull off a 110-106 victory in the 50th PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Tuesday night, April 7, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Meralco led by as many as 20 points, took an 88-71 lead into the fourth quarter but toyed with disaster when the cushion was whittled down to just two points in the final minute.

The Tropa even had the chance to go in front but RR Pogoy misfired a triple and the Bolts finally escaped by knocking down critical free throws.

The scrambling win enabled the Bolts to earn a piece of second place in the standings by tying the NLEX Road Warriors’ slate at 4-1 (win-loss).

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are currently at solo top spot with a clean 4-0 ledger.

Marvin Jones stood his ground against the highly touted TNT import Bol Bol, leading the Bolts with 29 points and 12 rebounds. CJ Cansino backed Jones with 19 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

Bol collected 28 markers and 12 rebounds but the Tropa slid to 2-2. Jordan Heading tallied 21 points and Calvin Oftana added 10 for the Tropa, whose 35-point explosion in the payoff period proved not enough to complete a come-from-behind win.

THE SCORES:

MERALCO (110) - Jones 29, Cansino 19, Almazan 12, Hodge 10, Mocon 9, Newsome 7, Quinto 7, Banchero 6, Brickman 4, Black 4, Pascual 3.

TNT (106) - Bol 28, Heading 21, Oftana 10, Galinato 8, Nambatac 7, Rosser 6, Khobuntin 6, Chua 6, Ferrer 5, Pogoy 5, Castro 2, Nieto 2, Williams 0, Nava 0, Aurin 0.QUARTERSCORES: 27-21, 54-40, 88-71, 110-106.(CCM)