Meralco overcame an early 21-point deficit before turning it on to hack out an impressive 88-77 come-from-behind victory over TNT KaTropa in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City yesterday.
The backcourt of the Bolts took care of business as Chris Newsome unloaded a complete game of 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Baser Amer added 17 points.
For good measure, Jared Dillinger produced 16 more markers for Meralco.
After shaking off a rough start, the Bolts had an astounding second-half surge to completely stun the Tropang Texters and turn the complexion of the contest.
Meralco outscored TNT, 33-19, in the third to finally get in the driver’s seat and carry a 63-58 edge into the last period.
With momentum on their side, the Bolts continued to pounce in the payoff frame, establishing an insurmountable 79-60 cushion with 6:12 remaining after a Newsome triple sealed another 16-2 storm.
That run proved to be the dagger as the dejected TNT side was unable to recover.
The victory got Meralco back on track as it improved to 2-2.
In the process, the Bolts snapped the Tropang Texters’ two-game winning streak, sending the latter to a 2-3 card.
It wasn’t the best of starts for Meralco as it fell behind 0-13 after the game’s first six minutes and 9-30 early in the second period.
In fact, the Bolts only managed nine points in the first 12 minutes of play.
However, the Bolts woke up just in time, gaining steam to end the first half on a 21-9 blitz to cut their deficit to nine, 30-39, at the break and get themselves back in the game.
That was the beginning of their successful comeback trail as they completely turned the tides around in the second half.
Jayson Castro led TNT KaTropa with 20 points, but only managed six in the second half.