Dawson tows Bolts to top six

MANILA, Philippines - Eric Dawson dished out another monster performance, putting in a crucial basket in pain at endgame as Meralco outlasted Rain or Shine in overtime, 118-116, to land in the Top Six at the close of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup elimination round at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Dawson powered his way to 50 points, 14 rebounds, five steals and four assists and the Bolts stood their ground against the Elasto Painters in a furious battle in the crunch, nailing a place in one of two best-of-three pairings in the quarterfinals.

Meralco’s win also completed pairings in the post-elim plays.

The Bolts advanced to the quarters versus the third-seeded San Mig Coffee Mixers while the Barangay Ginebra Kings were relegated to seventh place, paired with the second-seeded E-Painters. The Kings need to win two in a row to make it to the Final Four.

The other quarter pairings pit top seed Alaska Milk versus No. 8 Air21 and Philippine Cup three-peat champ Talk n Text against old rival Petron Blaze.

“It’s an important win priming ourselves with an opportunity (to reach the semifinals) via best-of-three. We really didn’t want No. 7 that’s why we battled till the end,” said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio.

“We’ve been in this situation before. The challenge is how to get over the hump,” added Gregorio whose team, in its three-year PBA participation, has never gone past the quarterfinals under the playoffs format.

The youthful Meralco bench tactician also acknowledged another stellar game from his explosive import.

“Eric Dawson towed us to victory with 50 points, including a big basket he made when already playing with one leg,” Gregorio said.

“I have not assessed (his health status) yet. All I can hear from him is “I’m going to finish this game, I’m not going to abandon my teammates,’” Gregorio added.

The former San Antonio Spur hurt his left knee with 1:49 left to play in OT, but played through injury, knocking in a short stab to push Meralco ahead at 116-115.

Beau Belga missed what could have been a game-winning three-pointer off Mac Cardona at the buzzer, and the E-Painters settled with a closing 9-5 win-loss card.

Right after Belga’s shot sailed short, the 6-foot-6 RoS frontcourt player and Cardona figured in a confrontation with the former obviously disappointed with the no-call by the game official.

Commissioner Chito Salud was among those who entered the floor to separate the two players.

Bruno Sundov logged 31 points and 19 rebounds while Jeff Chan, Paul Lee, Gabe Norwood and Chris Tiu added at least 11 markers each for the E-Painters who played more than three-fourths of the way under assistant coach Caloy Garcia after head coach Yeng Guiao was thrown out on flagrant misconduct just eight minutes into the game.

The Elasto Painters rallied from a 19-point deficit in the second quarter.

In a preview to their quarters showdown, Petron repulsed Talk n Text, 87-76, later in the night.

“We hadn’t beaten Talk n Text in a long while. That’s our motivation in this game,” said Petron coach Olsen Racela. “However, we know coach Norman didn’t put all his cards on the table. The real battle starts Friday and we’ll see.”