BACK on track.
The Meralco Bolts unleashed a furious fourth quarter avalanche to rally past the Phoenix Petroleum Fuelmasters, 107-104, and further improve their standing in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum yesterday.
With the absence of key players, Allen Durham carried his team on his back, with monster team-highs of 33 points and 16 rebounds for yet another double-double.
He wasn’t alone though as guard Garvo Lanete also stepped up his game. Lanete had a splendid scoring night with 27 points, including six triples, to help Meralco on offense big time.
Meralco improved to 5-1 to tie the NLEX Road Warriors at second place.
“We knew we had to have a big effort to win this game with some of our guys out. AD (Durham) was pretty consistent tonight but I thought Garvo Lanete gave us a big lift and made some key baskets for us,” said Meralco coach Norman Black. “Hats off to my players for this win.”
Following its 2-0 start, Phoenix have now lost four in a row and fell further down with a 2-4 slate.
After trailing through the first three quarters, Meralco suddenly woke up and turned on the switch to completely turn the tide and snatch the game away when it mattered the most.
Trailing 75-84 to start the fourth, the Bolts detonated a decisive 21-3 bomb to take a critical 95-87 advantage after Chris Newsome’s basket with 5:12 remaining.
Though the Fuel Masters stuck around, they never recovered as the Bolts held on to pull off the tremendous comeback win.
New Phoenix import Brandon Brown had the chance to send the game to overtime but his potential tying triple in the last second was off the mark.
Brown, who took the place of injured Eugene Phelps, immediately made his presence felt with a game-high 38 points and nine rebounds.
Veteran gunner Jeff Chan also played his first game as a Fuel Master after being acquired from Rain or Shine in a trade last week, making good account of himself right away with 27 points.
However, their efforts weren’t enough to snap Phoenix’s skid.
The Fuel Masters, behind the scoring of Brown and Chan, took charge in the second quarter by unleashing a 21-10 blast in the closing minutes to take a 57-45 spread with just second left before halftime. They eventually carried a 57-49 edge at the turn after that 38-point second period scoring and led until the fourth period where the Bolts suddenly took command of the game.
Dylan Ababou, another new player acquired by Phoenix just a few days ago in a separate trade involving Cyrus Baguio, who was let go of the team, also made his debut for the Fuelmasters.
The Fuel Masters missed the services of National team player Matthew Wright while the Bolts likewise missed Baser Amer for the same reason and forward Cliff Hodge due to injury.
Meanwhile, NLEX (5-1) is shooting for its second straight win and is looking to close in on a quarterfinals berth as it is currently playing Blackwater (1-3) as of this report.
PBA action continues tomorrow also at the Big Dome with another pair of critical games.
GlobalPort (1-2) takes on winless Kia (0-6) at 4:30 p.m. while a heavyweight clash takes place after as TNT KaTropa (2-1) faces Rain or Shine (2-2) at 6:45 p.m.
The scores:
MERALCO 107—Durham 33, Lanete 27, Newsome 18, Hugnatan 15, Caram 7, Nabong 4, Dillinger 3, Faundo 0, Chua 0, Atkins 0, Sedurifa 0.
PHOENIX 104—Brown 38, Chan 27, J. Wilson 12, Jazul 9, Eriobu 7, Alolino 4, Dehesa 3, Intal 2, Kramer 2, W. Wilson 0, Ababou 0.
Quarter scores: 26-19, 48-57, 75-84, 107-104.
