All tied.
The Meralco Bolts trailed early but relied on the hot shooting of Chris Newsome to beat Barangay Ginebra and tie their best-of-five 2020 PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series at one-all.
Newsome—who scored just 2 points in the first half—exploded 14 in the second to lead Meralco past Ginebra, 95-77, yesterday, Wednesday, November 20 at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena & Cultural Center Powered by Smart 5G.
Ginebra relied on a zone and paid dearly as Newsome, Allein Maliksi and Baser Amer waxed out from the outside. Meralco outscored Ginebra 20-6 early in the fourth to jump ahead by 18 points, 85-67, virtually settling the outcome of the match with still 5 minutes left to play.
Arvin Tolentino drained his third three-pointer as the Gin Kings extended their lead to 13 points, 55-42, early in the third period. Then the roof caved in for the Gin Kings.
Newsome started to hit his stride late in the third. He received a kick out pass from Reynel Hugnatan then drilled the three-pointer to cap a 9-2 Meralco run which cut the Ginebra advantage to just 6 points, 57-51, with 6:15 to go in the third.
Newsome unloaded 9 points in the period to tow Meralco to a 4-point, 65-61, lead after three quarters. The Bolts then went on to shred the Ginebra zone in the fourth to win pulling away.
LA Tenorio drilled a pair of three-pointers to go with another triple by Tolentino to push Ginebra to an early 9-point, 21-12 advantage with five minutes to play in the first quarter.
The Bolts came storming back late in the period. Reynel Hugnatan pivoted into the paint to convert the field goal and the bonus free throw to cut the lead to 2 points, 25-23, for Ginebra.
Tenorio closed the period with an outside shot as Ginebra led by 4, 27-23, after the first quarter. Tenorio ended up with 3 triples in the first quarter alone while Tolentino had 2 for the Gin Kings.
Bong Quinto glided into the paint to convert a layup and then the bonus free throw as Meralco grabbed the lead, 35-34, with 8:02 to go in the second.
Stanley Pringle kissed the ball off the glass on his layup attempt. The shot looked well off and the ball was not heading into the hoop but was blocked by Chris Newsome just the same awarding the two points to Ginebra on a goal-tending call.
Ginebra held a 50-42 advantage at halftime. Outside shooting was key to the Ginebra advantage with the Gin Kings converting 7 triples compared to just 2 by Meralco at halftime.
The Scores:
Meralco Bolts 95 – Chris Newsome 16, Allein Maliksi 14, Bong Quinto 14, Cliff Hodge 12, Raymond Almazan 11, Baser Amer 10, Reynel Hugnatan 9, Nard Pinto 3, Aaron Black 2, Jammer Jamito 2, Anjo Caram 2, Bryan Faundo 0, Raymar Jose 0, Nico Salva 0.
Barangay Ginebra 77 – Japeth Aguilar 17, LA Tenorio 16, Scottie Thompson 10, Arvin Tolentino 9, Stanley Pringle 9, Prince Caperal 6, Aljon Mariano 4, Kent Salado 4, Mark Caguioa 2, Joe Devance 0, Art Dela Cruz 0, Jared Dillinger 0, Jerrick Balanza 0.
Quarter scores: 23-27, 42-50, 65-61, 95-77.