Meralco thwarts Hong Kong Eastern

MANILA, Philippines -- The Meralco Bolts arrested their two-game losing streak after outlasting Hong Kong Eastern, 88-83, in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup clash Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Meralco kicked off the new year with an important win to rise to 4-2 in the season with five elimination games remaining.

Hong Kong Eastern, meanwhile, dropped to 6-3.

Akil Mitchell finished with 31 points, 14 rebounds, seven steals and five assists. Bong Quinto added 16 markers, four boards and two dimes.

It was a nip-and-tuck contest, as the two teams could not get separation from each other.

Hong Kong took a one-point lead, 72-71, following a layup by Hayden Blankley that sealed five straight points early on.

But Meralco retaliated with an 8-1 run capped by a split from the line by Aaron Black to grab the 79-73 lead.

Steven Guinchard and Kobey Lam teamed up to pull Eastern to within one, 78-79, with 5:10 left.

But Newsome hit a 3-pointer followed by free throws by Quinto to give Meralco another six point lead, 84-78.

Lam then came back with a triple of his own to put Hong Kong within striking distance, 81-84, with 2:44 remaining.

In the next possession, Newsome and Lam traded misses from beyond the arc, keeping Eastern at bay.

And with less than a minute remaining, Black drove to the basket and put up an acrobatic layup to push the lead to five, 86-81.

Blankley missed a triple on the other end, and Newsome’s free throws iced the game.

“This is a good one. We did enough to win, it was a grind-out win. Still things to improve on,” Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo told reporters after the game. 

“We missed 19 free throws. We knew they’d come back sa third, they had 31 points, but I think we did enough to hold the fort and get this W,” he added. 

Newsome and Black had nine points apiece for the Bolts, who forced the guest team to shoot just 26-of-71 from the field.

Chris McLaughlin paced Eastern with 28 points, 18 rebounds, three assists, four blocks and three assists.

Lam finished with 16 points, while Guinchard and Blankley posted 13 and 12 markers, respectively.

Meralco will face the TNT Tropang Giga on Tuesday, while Eastern will take on the Terrafirma Dyip on January 17th. Both games will be played at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.