Bolts outlast Beermen to lead 2-1

MANILA, Philippines -- Another game, another cardiac finish.

In a game that could have gone either way, the Meralco Bolts outlasted the San Miguel Beermen, 93-89, to win Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Chris Newsome paced the Bolts with 26 points, four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.

Raymond Almazan and Bong Quinto backstopped with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

It was a contest that was too close to call, with the two teams trading leads down the stretch.

With the Beermen holding an 83-81 lead with 5:31 to go following a 3-pointer by CJ Perez, the Bolts unleashed a 7-1 run capped by a Quinto triple to go up by four, 88-84.

San Miguel, however, mounted a comeback and overtook Meralco, 89-88, after a 5-0 mini-run punctuated by a pair of free throws by June Mar Fajardo.

On the other end, though, Newsome punched in the dagger 3-pointer from the right corner off the beautiful passing of Meralco to go up by two, 91-89, with 34.1 seconds left.

In the next possession, Perez missed a layup that would have tied the game.

Newsome was then fouled and iced the game and the 2-1 series lead with a pair of free throws.

Marcio Lassiter, June Mar Fajardo and Chris Ross tried to get cracks on the basket, but their shots could not connect.

Cliff Hodge and Chris Banchero added 10 apiece for Meralco. The former had 13 rebounds and four assists, while the latter had six boards and six dimes.

Mo Tautuaa powered San Miguel with 19 markers and six rebounds. Perez chipped in 18 in the losing effort.

Despite the win, Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo said that they are far from satisfied in the victory as the team sees a need to improve on "certain things."

"This game may have been a win, but we clearly need to improve some things. If we cannot have a gameplan when we call timeouts, or one guy's messing up, there are opportunities for them to come back," Trillo told reporters after the game. 

"We won but we're not satisfied with the last three, four minutes. There were certain things that as a group, we need to do and we didn't do some of those." 

In the three games thus far, all contests have been decided by seven points or less.

Meralco will try to go up 3-1 against the Beermen on Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., at the same venue.