by Jonas Terrado
Midnight struck on the Meralco Bolts last night after they suffered a heartbreaking 79-74 loss to crack Iranian side Petrochimi in the semifinals of the FIBA Asia Champions Cup at Stadium 29 in Nonthaburi, Thailand.
The Bolts had a good chance of keeping their Cinderella run in the competition going, battling the unbeaten squad composed mostly of members of the Iranian national team to a seesaw affair until less than five minutes when coach Norman Black’s wards ran out of steam.
Behnam Yakhchali, who fired 29 points, played a decisive role in the homestretch as Petrochimi denied Meralco an unlikely berth in tonight’s final against the winner of the other semis affair between Japan’s Alvark Tokyo and South Korea’s SK Knights.
Meralco was relegated to a battle for third opposite the loser of the aforementioned at 7 p.m. tonight, aiming to produce a podium finish which the PBA squad didn’t expect after dealing with plenty of adversities before and during the competition.
Playing sans injured players Jared Dillinger and Ranidel de Ocampo, Chris Newsome and Cliff Hodge being disallowed due to eligibility issues and 7-foot-2 Liam McMorrow sustaining an injury during a practice session, the Bolts lost their first two games to Thailand’s Mono Vampire and Alvark Tokyo.
Facing elimination, Meralco unleashed an unexpected resurgence Saturday by routing deposed champion Al-Riyadi of Lebanon, 96-63, to reach the semis as the second-best team of Group A due to a superior quotient.
Import Allen Durham, elbowed at the back of the head late in the game and responding by shoving down the culprit, produced 27 points and 11 rebounds but fouled out with 1:30 left in the fourth and Meralco down 76-72 on a weird double foul with Petrochimi’s Sajjad Mashayeki.
Anjo Caram missed a jumper after the infraction and Yakhchali split his two free throws for a 77-72 Petrochimi advantage, all but ending Meralco’s title bid.
A three-pointer by import Diamond Stone put Meralco in a 66-all tie with 4:50 left in the fourth, but Arsalan Kazemi’s four points was sandwiched by a Yakhchali layup to put Petrochimi ahead 72-66.
That left Meralco, which once led 61-58 in the fourth behind Durham, playing catch-up the rest of the way.
