Bolts pull off crucial win in OT

MANILA, Philippines — Meralco hung tough to score a frantic 132-129 overtime win over Converge and stay in the thick of a tightrope race for twice-to-beat incentives in the PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Allein Maliksi, before being ejected due to a last-second skirmish, drained the go-ahead trey while KJ McDaniels came through in the clutch to lead the Bolts, who spoiled Jamaal Franklin’s massive 57-point, 14-rebound, 11-assist triple-double.

McDaniels unleashed 33 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. He scored the game-tying basket in regulation while Aaron Black put up 28 points in Meralco’s big win that also foiled the anticipated return of 46-year-old big man and concurrent assistant coach Danny Ildefonso for Converge.

Cliff Hodge (18), Raymond Almazan (16), Bong Quinto (12) and Chris Newsome (11) also chipped in with Maliksi adding 12 more. But he exited in the last six seconds due to a flagrant foul penalty two infraction for choking Barkley Eboña during a brief scuffle.

“We just gutted out in overtime, especially on defense. We tried to get as much stops as possible. There’s a lot of teams running for (the) top four so it’s a chance for us to go further up,” said coach Norman Black as Meralco dragged Converge to a tie at No. 5 with similar 6-4 cards.

Only the top four teams will gain twice-to-beat bonuses in the playoffs.

Later, Barangay Ginebra (6-2) clipped Phoenix Super LPG (4-6), 109-89, and maintained a good position in the wild Top-Four race. Christian Standhardinger had another all-around performance with 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.