Games Today
(Mall of Asia Arena)
4:30 p.m. – Mahindra vs Phoenix
6:45 p.m. – RoS vs Ginebra
The Meralco Bolts may have raised the curtains to the Chris Newsome era.
Deferring to Jimmy Alapag during their time together last season, Newsome basked in the solo spotlight yesterday by scoring 28 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to lead the Bolts past the NLEX Road Warriors, 106-93, in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With Alapag retiring a second time, and perhaps with finality, Newsome displayed facets of his own game as he slashed his way through the porous NLEX defense while taking at least two shots to the head – one from Asi Taulava and another from Eman Monfort.
He was 11 of 16 from the field with two 3-pointers and 5 assists, combining with rookie Ed Daquioag in a finishing 13-point run that put away the Road Warriors.
“We knew NLEX had a lot of energy because we played them in Cebu during the off-season; we expected a lot of fire from them especially with coach Yeng Guiao,” Newsome said. “But we were able to stick to our game plan and play hard.”
Daquioag, acquired by Meralco in the special draft for Gilas Cadets out of University of Santo Tomas, added 23 points on 9 of 14 from the floor, while Cliff Hodge added 12 points and Andrew Caram 11.
A 3-pointer by Daquioag gave Meralco an 88-84 lead with 6:22 remaining and NLEX was unable to match the Bolts’ strong closing performance anchored around their fleet-footed guards.
Trying to mirror the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in their propensity to gun away from the outside, the Road Warriors paid the price after missing 28 of 39 three-point attempts. Kevin Alas went 2 of 6 in 3s, Glenn Khobuntin 0 of 4 and Mac Baracael 1 of 7.
Newsome went down clutching the top of his head in the middle of a 9-0 run in the third quarter after Taulava, faked off his feet, landed a forearm on the former Ateneo Blue Eagle.
A few minutes later, Newsome again crashed to the floor clutching his mouth after Monfort caught him square on the face with his arm during a rebound play.
Hodge was the subject of a more frightening incident.
After missing a putback slam-dunk attempt, Hodge was hit in the jaw by an elbow from NLEX forward Eric Camson as he came down full-speed in transition. Hodge fell to the floor and appeared to even bang his head on the court.
Nabong, Meralco’s 6-foot-5 bruiser, had some words for Camson after the contact but the exchange never escalated.
“They basically are a pick n’ roll team like Rain or Shine, and our defense was pretty good today,” said Bolts coach Norman Black. “We slowed them down a little. My hats off to my rookie Ed Daquioag who was exceptional tonight and very relaxed like a veteran.”
NLEX, which shot just 47 percent from the floor and were outrebounded, 51-42, slipped to 1-1.
Meanwhile, Rain or Shine, fanning an all-weather reputation by continuing to play well despite the departure of coach Yeng Guiao and stars Paul Lee and JR Quiñahan, guns for a third straight win and solo leadership when it goes up against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel today at the Mall of Asia Arena.
In the first game at 4:30 a.m., Phoenix shoots for its second win in three games against winless Mahindra (0-2).
Scores:
MERALCO 106 – Newsome 28, Daquioag 23, Hodge 12, Caram 11, Nabong 11, Yeo 7, Grey 6, chua 4, Al-Hussaini 2, Faundo 2, Amer 0, Bono 0, Hugnatan 0, Uyloan 0.
NLEX 93 – Anthony 15, Camson 14, Lanete 14, Soyud 14, Alas 10, Lastimosa 10, Villanueva J. 7, Baracael 5, Guinto 4, Khobuntin 0, Monfort 0, Taulava 0.
Quarters: 21-25; 56-54; 79-77; 106-93