By REYNALD MAGALLON
Picking its poison against the depth of Barangay Ginebra has been a running theme for Meralco in the first two games so far in their best-of-seven semifinals series in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup.
But there was none of that in the Game 3 clash at the full house Dasmariñas City Arena on Wednesday, May 22.
The Bolts held the antidote on their defensive fangs and shut down the Kings, 87-80, to gain a 2-1 lead.
Meralco put on the clamps not only on Ginebra’s balanced offense, which was in full display in Game1, but also on Christian Standhardinger, who exploded for a career-high scoring in Game 2.
The solid defensive stand served as fuel that further fanned an already blazing start for the Bolts. Meralco went off to a 11-4 run to end the opening quarter to take a double-digit advantage and never relinquished it until the final horn.
Meralco can push Ginebra to an even deeper 3-1 hole in Game 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday, May 24.
The Bolts built a lead that went to as high as 17 points in the second half before overcoming a late surge from the Kings’ second-stringers that made the final score more respectable.
Allein Maliksi showed the way for Meralco with 16 points while Chris Newsome added 14 points, six assists and four rebounds. Bong Quinto had 10 points while Cliff Hodge and Chris Banchero had nine points apiece.
After exploding for 41 points in their Game 2 loss, Standhardinger could only muster 10 points, although he tried to make up for it with his 10 rebounds. Japeth Aguilar, one of the heroes of the Game 1 win, paced with 15 points while Maverick Ahanmisi was the only other double-digit scorer with 13.
Scottie Thompson only had eight points while both Ralph Cu and Stanley Pringle were a non-factor with five and four points, respectively, after becoming one of the source of offense for Ginebra in the first two games.
