Meralco frustrates Ginebra for playoff spot before BCL stint; TNT ousts Northport

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Meralco prepares for its Basketball Champions League stint in Dubai with a late smothering of rival Ginebra, while PBA Grand Slam-seeking TNT pummels depleted NorthPort out of contention

MANILA, Philippines – Meralco brings much-needed power as it heads to Dubai for Basketball Champions League (BCL) Asia.

The Bolts picked up their third straight win to seal a playoff spot in their PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup eliminations campaign after outlasting Ginebra, 82-73, at the Araneta Coliseum on Friday, May 30.

Chris Newsome put up 15 points and 6 rebounds for the Bolts, while Cliff Hodge had 11 points and 7 boards to keep Meralco’s tempo throughout the game.

Chris Banchero also contributed 14 points on top of Bong Quinto and CJ Cansino’s 10-point outings.

Tied 71-all with four minutes left, Meralco held Ginebra to just two points the rest of the way to frustrate their rivals as head coach Tim Cone got thrown out with 32.5 seconds left in the game for continuous complaining after two perceived non-calls in the final three minutes.

With the win, the Bolts finished the eliminations with a 6-5 win-loss record before heading to the BCL Asia tilt next week, when they will face champion clubs from top Asian leagues.

“It’s a high-level game. I think in the end (it came down) to the stops that we had. They started missing a couple of their shots,” Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo said.

“It’s hard to keep focus on a big game like this because there are so many intangibles that happened. In the end, I think it was an ugly game. It came down to defensive rebounding for us, but that’s our identity,” he added.

Meralco outrebounded Ginebra, 54-46, to clinch the win.

The defending All-Filipino Cup champions will now have to wait on the remaining elimination games while they represent the PBA in the BCL tournament.

The Gin Kings fell to 5-3 in the loss as they find themselves in a three-way tie at the middle of the standings along with the TNT Tropang 5G and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo led Ginbera with 16 points each.

Meanwhile, TNT eliminated the Northport Batang Pier from playoff contention through a 94-70 rout.

The Tropang 5G, whose franchise was just two days removed from trading former PBA Finals MVP Mikey Williams for Gilas Pilipinas guard Jordan Heading, leaned on a balanced offensive attack as five players scored in double digits to stomp out Northport.

Calvin Oftana led the way with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while RR Pogoy and the returning Almond Vosotros added 13 and 12 points. respectively, for grand slam-seeking TNT.

Big men Poy Erram and Kelly Williams put up 11 points each as the Tropang 5G zoomed to their fifth straight win to improve to 5-3.

On the other hand, Northport fell to 1-7 on the same day news broke out about former star Arvin Tolentino’s decision to take his talents to the Korean Basketball League (KBL).

Joshua Munzon had 20 points for the Batang Pier, which also traded rising star Will Navarro for the aging Calvin Abueva three days prior, as no other player scored in double digits in the loss.

Northport’s loss also formalized the elimination of the lowly Blackwater Bossing.

The Scores

First Game

TNT 94 – Oftana 15, Pogoy 13, Vosotros 12, Erram 11, Enciso 11, Williams 11, Aurin 7, Ganuelas-Rosser 5, Khobuntin 4, Heruela 4, Ebona 1, Varilla 0, Payawal 0, Exciminiano 0.

NorthPort 70 – Munzon 20, Flores 9, Balanza 9, Cuntapay 7, Bulanadi 5, Jalalon 5, Onwubere 4, Yu 4, Nelle 3, Kwekuteye 2, Nava 2, Taha 0.

Quarters: 20-18, 52-32, 70-49, 94-70

Second Game

Meralco 82 – Newsome 15, Banchero 14, Hodge 11, Quinto 10, Cnasino 10, Black 5, Rios 5, Almazan 4, Jose 4, Bates 4.

Ginebra 73 – Thompson 16, Malonzo 16, Rosario 14, J.Aguilar 12, Abarrientos 12, Holt 3, Cu 0, Gray 0, David 0

Quarters: 17-17, 37-37, 61-56, 82-73.

– Rappler.com