Meralco was shown the exit door by the Ulaanbaatar Xac Broncos in the Basketball Champions League Asia.
Meralco crawled back from a double-digit deficit but lost the spark in the homestretch as the Bolts fell prey to Ulaanbaatar Xac Broncos, 78-83, in the quarterfinals of the Basketball Champions League Asia at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai Wednesday, June 11.
Jordon Varnado and Glynn Watson spearheaded Meralco’s attack anew, finishing with 23 and 22 points, respectively. But these numbers were not enough as the Bolts got eliminated in the tourney and will now head home in time for the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup playoffs.
Bong Quinto submitted 12 points, four rebounds and an assist, while John Egbunu added 10 points and eight rebounds.
“We started well… We managed to come back towards the end of the game, had the chance to win, but probably, overall, we deserved to lose that game,” said Meralco coach Nenad Vucinic after the match.
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The Broncos march on to the semifinals of the club competition serving as a qualifier for the FIBA Intercontinental Cup this year in Singapore.
Varnado’s four straight points inside the final two minutes enabled Meralco to close in, 75-80. Quinto followed that up with a short stab and a split from the foul line to get the Bolts to within a field goal.
While Meralco managed to put the cuffs on Broncos’ reinforcements after that, Saruul-erdene Enkhbaatar and Azbayar Altangerel sealed the win by going 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
“It wasn’t our day today. Shooting was really off for most of the players. The opposition deserves to be in the semifinals,” added Vucinic, whose team logged a dismal 7-for-32 conversion from the three-point area.
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Ian Miller didn’t disappoint for the Broncos as he paced the squad with 33 points, three rebounds and six assists.
Barsbold Baatar Erdene, whose bucket in the 7:36 mark of the fourth period capped a 7-0 run for Ulaanbaatar that gave it a 70-59 lead, had 13 points and four rebounds.
Altangerel added 10 points for the seven-time champion of Mongolia’s top league.