Bolts thwart Beermen to book quarterfinals berth

MANILA, Philippines -- The Meralco Bolts clinched a ticket to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals after keeping the San Miguel Beermen at bay, 100-93, Saturday at the Candon City Arena in Ilocos.

Trailing by three points with less than six minutes remaining in the game, Meralco ran away and kept their distance with timely shots against the defending champions.

Akil Mitchell dominated for Meralco with 26 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and a steal. Chris Newsome added 20 markers, four dimes and three boards, while Chris Banchero had 19 points.

With the game tied at 80-all heading into the fourth quarter, the two teams traded shots and leads early on.

A Jericho Cruz triple put San Miguel on top, 87-85, with 8:15 remaining. The two squads missed free throw after free throw in the next couple of minutes, which was broken after Mitchell finally put a score on the board, 86-87, after a split of his own.

Don Trollano then had an opportunity for a three-point play following a layup, but he missed the bonus free throw.

Meralco started to wax hot with 10 unanswered points.

Newsome tied the game up with a triple, before a June Mar Fajardo turnover led to a layup by Banchero.

After another turnover by San Miguel, Banchero once again connected on a layup, and a three-point play completed by Mitchell capped the 10-0 blitz as the Bolts went up by seven, 96-89, with 2:53 remaining.

Free throws by CJ Perez, Fajardo and new San Miguel import Malik Pope cut the lead to just three, 93-96, with 2:03 remaining, before CJ Cansino hit the go-ahead jumper to push the advantage to five, 98-93, with 1:47 left.

In the next play, Pope was called for a travel, but a nice defensive possession gave the ball back to San Miguel. Pope, however, could not capitalize and missed a jumper.

On the other end, Banchero split his line, giving Meralco a 99-93 lead with 36.6 to go.

And with 25.3 seconds left, Perez tried to force a foul call as he kicked his foot out on a 3-point attempt, but he was called for an offensive foul.

A free throw by Cansino with 14.2 seconds remaining iced the game, as Juami Tiongson and Perez missed shots from beyond the arc.

Guard Kurt Reyson provided spark for Meralco with seven points, while Raymond Almazan and Cansino had six points apiece.

June Mar Fajardo finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, but he committed five turnovers.

Perez tallied 16 markers for San Miguel, while Pope had a subpar debut with 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Don Trollano likewise chipped in 14 markers.

Meralco rose to 7-3 in the season, tied with the Converge FiberXers, Hong Kong Eastern and the NorthPort Batang Pier.

The Beermen, for their part, dropped to 4-5, half a game ahead of the ninth-placed Magnolia Hotshots (4-6).

The Bolts will take on Barangay Ginebra on January 29, while San Miguel will try to get back on the win column against NorthPort on Tuesday, January 21.