By REYNALD MAGALLON
CJ Cansino provided the spark in the second half as Meralco ended NLEX’s winning run with a 108-92 victory to boost its playoff hopes in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup at the PhilSports Arena on Sunday, May 25.
Scoreless through the first two quarters, Cansino suddenly came alive in the second half and fired all of his 20 points to help the Bolts create the much-needed separation and more importantly pick up the win in their penultimate assignment in the eliminations.
The Bolts improved to an even 5-5 record but are still needing one more win to rack up six wins which should be enough to keep the team in contention for the playoffs regardless of the results of the other teams.
Playing on a compressed schedule due to its commitment to representing the PBA in the BCL Asia next month, Meralco is closing out the eliminations next week against Barangay Ginebra.
And that’s only why Meralco displayed some sense of urgency in the contest as the Bolts unloaded a 16-5 run in the third frame to seize control after a 54-all affair.
Meralco just kept NLEX at bay from that point as Cansino also got ample help from the rest of the Bolts.
Chris Newsome, after being limited to just five points in the first half, also got his bearings going in the last two quarters to still lead the scoring with 21 points. Bong Quinto added 18 while Chris Banchero chipped in 16.
Meanwhile,
San Miguel may be undermanned but its remaining players proved to be more than enough to whip Blackwater, 115-78.
With only 10 players in uniform for the Beermen, June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez carried the cudgels, presiding over strong middle quarters performance to tear the game apart and improve to a 6-3 record in the standings.
Perez led the way with 20 points while Fajardo added a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds to make up for the absence of their three players – two of which are starters in Juami Tiongson and Marcio Lassiter and an able backup in Jeron Teng – due to sore eyes.
JM Calma also showed up with 16 points while Don Trollano added 15. Jericho Cruz finished with 13 points and eight assists while Chris Ross chipped in 11 for the Beermen, who continued to solidify their bid for a spot in the top 4.
