By REYNALD MAGALLON
With Meralco only up by eight with 1:40 left in the final frame, Chris Newsome and Cliff Hodge sacrificed their bodies and dove hard for the loose ball which was on the way out of bounds.
The Bolts failed to save the possession in that play but that exactly typified how much fight they have in them to force a sudden-death Game 7.
Allein Maliksi finished what Bong Quinto had started as Meralco took down Barangay Ginebra, 86-81, to arrange a deciding match in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, May 29.
The veteran gunner displayed the veteran poise and poured 12 of his 14 points in the final frame as the Bolts created the much-needed separation from the tight contest to give the Batangas fans a do-or-die Game 7 treat at the FPJ Arena on Friday, May 31.
Quinto led the way in scoring for Meralco with 23 points, sparking a pivotal 13-4 spurt early in the fourth quarter that turned a 56-57 deficit into a 69-61 lead.
Newsome finished with 21 points while Cliff Hodge added 10 points to his name. Raymond Almazan also held the fort after finishing with seven points and 11 rebounds while battling through foul trouble and trying to limit Christian Standhardinger.
The Bolts seized control of the contest in the final frame and even took an 82-74 lead with 2:11 left in the contest. In a true ‘Never-Say-Die’ fashion, however, the Kings tried to climb back from deficit behind two big triples from Maverick Ahanmisi and Stanley Pringle.
Newsome, however, coolly sank four pressure-packed free throws in the dying seconds to answer the big hits and ensure a Meralco win at the end of the final horn.
Standhardinger and Japeth Aguilar carried the fight for Ginebra with 19 points each with the former also adding eight rebounds and the latter finishing with seven. Ahanmisi and Pringle had 13 and 12 respectively but their late rally just fell short to finish off the hard-fighting Meralco.
