MANILA, Philippines — Meralco, with its tremendous manpower shortage, just couldn’t cope with an efficient Alvark Tokyo and reeled to a second straight loss in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup at Stadium 29 in Nonthaburi, Thailand yesterday.
The Bolts faded away from a 60-all count early in the fourth quarter and suffered a 73-84 loss to the Japanese squad that all but eased the Filipinos out of the playoff race in the Asian inter-club tourney.
Allen Durham fired away a game-high 31 points while Diamond Stone scattered 28 markers but their combined effort proved not enough to carry the burden for a team missing top guns Chris Newsome, Cliff Hodge, Ranidel de Ocampo and Jared Dillinger.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio, the top official of the Meralco Bolts team, said they were not ready for the “curve ball” thrown at them three days before the tourney.
“FIBA Asia executive director Hagop Khajirian’s decision not to allow Newsome and Hodge to play as locals was a huge setback for us,” said Panlilio.
“We knew what we’re up against. It is hard as it is because we are pitted against the best clubs in Asia. We were hopeful that we could compete at a high level with the two guys on board. Imagine our disappointment when they were not recognized as local players,” Panlilio added.
Japan, meanwhile, fielded a full unit led by national players Daiki Tanaka, Joji Takeuchi and Yudai Baba, and seven-foot imports Alex Ryan Kirk and Milko Bjelica under coach Luka Pavicevic.
The Japanese practically booked a berth in the semifinals with their second straight win following an 87-62 whipping of titleholder Al Riyadi of Lebanon on opening day.
Alvark takes on Mono Vampire while Meralco tangles with Al Riyadi at the close of the group plays today.
Like in their first outing against Mono Vampire, the Bolts waged a tough fight in the first three quarters but succumbed in losing steam and firepower in the payoff period.
Kirk top scored with 23 points, with six other Alvark players contributing at least six markers.
For the Bolts, only Reynel Hugnatan (six), Baser Amer (five) and Garvo Lanete (three) hit the scoring column with Durham and Stone.
The scores:
Alvark 84 – Krik 23, Tanaka 17, Kojima 12, Ando 9, Takeuchi 8, Bjelica 8, Baba 6, Kikuchi 1, Saito 0, Shonaka 0
Meralco 73 – Durham 31, Stone 28, Hugnatan 6, Amer 5, Lanete 3, Tolomia 0, Canaleta 0, Caram 0, Ballesteros 0, Jamito 0.
Quarterscores: 19-17, 35-37, 60-56, 84-73