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Friday, March 29, 2024

Bolts get back on winning track

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MERALCO hardly broke a sweat in getting back on the winning track as it used a booming jumpstart to dominate the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 109-102, and improve its stand at the resumption of the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Allen Durham got going as he scored a game-high 32 points, along with 12 rebounds. He added five assists as well in 41 minutes of play in a complete game to pace the Bolts’ attack.

While the Bolts improved to 3-2 to move back to the upper half of the ladder, the Elasto Painters saw their two-game winning run snapped as they fell to 2-2. Meralco is now at fifth, while Rain or Shine is right behind at sixth.

It was all Meralco from the get-go as the Bolts emphatically opened the game with a deadly barrage.

In pursuit of ending their two-game slide, the Bolts came out blasting as they started the game with an astonishing 16-0 blast in less than four minutes to immediately establish a tight grip on the contest. 

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They never looked back.

“Our first quarter gave us a good start and set the tone for the game,” said Black. “We really wanted to have a good start on both ends. It also helped us that Allen Durham played a better game today. He came out very aggressive for us.”

By the end of the first, Meralco held a 35-21 spread. Just a few seconds into the second frame, the separation got wider after Jonathan Uyloan sank a trey to give the Bolts a 38-21 cushion with over 11 minutes left in the opening half.

The Bolts kept their huge advantage at halftime. They held a big 65-47 lead after a 19-10 run to close the second quarter.

Durham and Chris Newsome led Meralco’s first half explosion as they combined for 32 points. The import had 20 while the high-leaping swingman added 12 in the first 24 minutes of action.

Those 12 from Newsome were all of his points for the game. Big man Bryan Faundo also had 12 and Cliff Hodge added 11 more for Meralco.

Baser Amer and Jared Dillinger inflicted more damage with 10 points each as they completed the six Bolts in twin digits.

The Bolts added insult to injury in the second half as they padded their lead to as much as 26 points on two occasions. They protected that big lead before the Painters trimmed it to a more respectable final tally late in the game.

At no point did the Bolts encounter any problems as they dominated from start to finish. They prevented the Elasto Painters from posing any threat.

Dior Lowhorn led Rain or Shine with his team-high 25 points.

Games Friday 

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)

4:15 p.m. – Mahindra vs. Phoenix

7 p.m. – Star vs. NLEX

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