Bolts zap Hotshots for crucial 2-1 lead in PBA semis

MANILA, Philippines – After getting even, Meralco charged ahead of Magnolia in the PBA Governors’ Cup race-to-three semifinal series, 2-1, with a pivotal 101-95 victory in Game Three Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Bolts uncorked a 13-3 salvo in the fourth to seize a 10-point cushion and leaned on Chris Newsome and Tony Bishop’s endgame exploits to make it two in a row after their series-tying 81-75 Game Two triumph and close in on a coveted finals seat.

“We felt like this game will be the turning point for both teams. If we can win this, it gives us a much better chance of making it to the finals,” said Meralco coach Norman Black, whose gritty crew dealt Magnolia its first back-to-back losses of the conference.

From having to play catchup after a 94-80 loss in Game One, Black’s fired-up troops can now roll all the way to their fourth championship appearance in the last five Governors’ Cup meets in Wednesday’s Game Four.

In his best performance since jumping onboard Meralco mid-tournament, Chris Banchero rifled in 23 points to go with five assists to backstop Tony Bishop’s 27-point, 10-rebound, four-steal outing.

“He was the stabilizer, he was steady at the point guard position. Defensively he was solid and offensively, he made big shots for us,” Black said of the Fil-Italian Banchero.

Magnolia threatened to within 95-92 after Meralco’s pullaway but Newsome came to the rescue with a bailout basket then Bishop stole off Paul Lee and cashed in on two free throws for a fresh seven-point tear with 22 seconds left.

“Tony’s a good defensive player. He has long arms, he can block shots, he can deflect,” Black said of the Panamanian reinforcement.

The Bolts held Magnolia gunner Lee to a meager five markers on a 2-of-9 clip as Harris (24 points, 17 rebounds), Mark Barroca (15), Ian Sangalang (14) and Jio Jalalon took scoring cudgels for the Hotshots.

Meanwhile, the PBA cracked the whip on the game officials who officiated Game Two of the Magnolia-Meralco semifinal dispute last Friday for their failure to call a shot-clock violation against the Bolts in the dying seconds.

“Hindi tumama (sa ring) so dapat violation yun. Mali namin, mali ng referees so yung buong crew suspended for the (rest of) the semis,” commissioner Willie Marcial said Sunday.

The controversial play happened in the last 28 seconds of that match when Bishop missed his jump shot and Aaron Black grabbed the offensive rebound. The referees ruled it a good play and enabled the Bolts, who were leading that time, 80-75, to regain possession to the protest of the Magnolia bench.