Mga laro ngayon:
Araneta Coliseum
4 p.m. – TNT vs Brgy Ginebra
6:30 p.m. – NLEX vs Alaska
HINDI hinayaan ng Meralco na masayang ang kanilang win-once advantage nang pataubin ang San Miguel Beer, 100-85, upang umabante sa PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals nitong Biyernes sa Araneta Coliseum.
Naitarak ng Meralco ang hanggang 21 puntos na kalamangan at nalimitahan ang San Miguel sa final quarter upang maging unang koponan na nakausad sa ‘Final 4’.
Pinainit ni Tony Bishop ang Bolts sa kinamadang 32 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, at 2 blocks – karamihan dito ay sa third quarter kung saan nagpasabog siya ng 18 points upang tulungan ang kanyang koponan na maitala ang 79-61 bentahe.
Ito na ang ika-4 na sunod na semifinals appearance ng Meralco at makakasagupa ang mananalo sa isa pang quarterfinals match sa pagitan ng top seed Magnolia at ng No. 8 Phoenix Super LPG.
Bagaman pinangunahan niya ang SMB na may 24 points at 15 rebounds, si Shabazz Muhammad ay malayo sa offensive juggernaut na nagbigay sa kanya ng 45 sa kanyang 57 points sa kanilang March 5 meeting makaraang maging pangunahing target ng depensa ng Meralco.
“The whole focus was, after what happened to us in the elimination round, try and slow down Shabazz and not allow him to get another 57 points on us. We were hoping to hold him down to 30. That would be a good number,” wika ni winning coach Norman Black.
Sina Terrence Romeo (17 points), June Mar Fajardo (12 points at 12 rebounds) at Marcio Lassiter (10 points) lamang ang nakatuwang ni Muhammad dahil nahirapan ang mga tulad nina Vic Manuel at CJ Perez at maging si Mo Tautuaa sa buong laro.
“Having the four days of practice gave us a lot of time to try different defenses during the week and… most of them worked tonight against them. So hats off to my players for not just learning what we were doing in practice, but executing it today in the game,” sabi ni Black.
“It’s a great team effort. Tony Bishop really played well tonight. He shot the basketball well from the perimeter. I think everybody did their job in contributing to this win. It’s nice to be back in the semis again,” dagdag pa niya. “It’s not every day you beat a powerhouse San Miguel team so it’s a good win for us.” CLYDE MARIANO
Iskor:
Meralco (100) – Bishop 32, Newsome 22, Banchero 9, Hugnatan 9, Almazan 8, Maliksi 6, Black 4, Hodge 4, Quinto 4, Baclao 2, Jose 0, Caram 0.
San Miguel (85) – Muhammad 24, Romeo 17, Fajardo 12, Perez 12, Ross 6, Lassiter 5, Brondial 5, Manuel 4, Tautuaa 0. Cruz 0.
QS: 26-26; 48-40; 79-61; 100-85.
