Meralco seals playoff spot, denies SMB elims sweep
Cliff Hodge PBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines: Meralco kept its poise in the final quarter to hold off a furious San Miguel Beer rally, 95-92 en route to sealing a PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup quarterfinal seat in their road game on Saturday in Batangas City.
The Bolts led by as many as 17 points in the final period, but had to hung touch against the Beermen’s rally behind star center June Mar Fajardo, Terrence Romeo and CJ Perez.
Perez’ three-pointer pushed the Beermen to within 91-93 heading into the final two minutes, but the Bolts managed to hold their own on the defensive end allowing Meralco to end the elims with three straight wins and more importantly, punch in a ticket in the quarterfinals.
The loss, on the other hand, denied the Beermen an elimination round sweep. San Miguel still ended the elims with a 10-1 record and will enjoy a twice-to-beat edge after securing the no. 1 seed heading to the playoffs.
Cliff Hodge led the Bolts’ charge with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Allein Maliksi came off the bench and supplied 19.
Chris Newsome chipped in 17 markers, six assists, three steals and three boards, while Bong Quinto added 12 in a balanced scoring attack for Meralco.
Fajardo led the Beermen with 23 points and 19 rebounds, while Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano each added 14 apiece.
Perez, who entered the game averaging 21.3 points, wound up with just eight after shooting just 3-of-14 from the floor.