Bolts zap Dyip for 2nd win

MANILA, Philippines —  Reigning champion Meralco zapped Terrafirma in historic fashion, 118-80, for its biggest winning margin ever and a 2-0 start in the PBA Philippine Cup yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The Bolts jumped to a 30-16 start and never looked back en route to a 38-point win, smashing their previous scoring gap of 34 points (119-85) against Talk ‘N Text back in the 2015 Governors Cup.

Led by CJ Cansino’s 19 points on three four-point shots, all 15 Meralco players lit up the board as the Bolts went 2-0 in the season-ending tourney after a 91-89 debut win over Converge on Chris Newsome’s game-winner.

No need for endgame exploits this time with a hulking Meralco performance marked by big contributions off the bench from Kurt Reyson (16) Bong Quinto (13), Brandon Bates (11) and Jolo Mendoza (11).

Anjo Caram and Cliff Hodge joined the party with nine and seven points, respectively, as Newsome played only 11 minutes and made two points for Meralco, which shot 56 percent from the field in the bloodbath.

“We didn’t start well in our tune-up games, including against Terrafirma (so we made sure to start strong). And we have a lot of respect for Terrafirma. We just focused on what we’re doing so it’s nice to get this kind of win because we have a big one on Wednesday against San Miguel,” said coach Luigi Trillo.

Meralco’s finals rematch with San Miguel in the main game after the battle between Magnolia and Converge on Wednesday will mark the PBA’s golden anniversary as the oldest professional league in Asia established in 1975.

And the Bolts indeed ensured themselves a good warm-up, scoring a coast-to-coast victory against the Dyip unit that came off a 95-87 debut win over the Phoenix Fuel Masters.

Meralco broke the floodgates wide open at 42-22 and took a 56-43 lead at the turn before following it up with a staggering 13-0 blitz to open the second half with a sudden 25-point lead.

The Bolts even ballooned the gap to 107-65 on Mendoza’s transition lay-up.

In the main game, Converge (1-1) rebounded from a sorry loss to Meralco on opening day with a 92-83 win over Phoenix (0-2) largely behind Justine Baltazar’s nine points, 16 rebounds, six assists, a steal and two blocks.