December 07, 2024

PBA: Allein Maliksi, Meralco deny San Miguel of elims sweep to clinch quarterfinal berth

PBA: Allein Maliksi, Meralco deny San Miguel of elims sweep to clinch quarterfinal berth
Allein Maliksi hits a couple of big baskets to fend off San Miguel's comeback attempts. | Photo (c) PBA

Meralco did what no other team had done in the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup.

The Bolts dealt San Miguel its first loss, 95-92, in 11 games to punch a ticket to the playoffs on Saturday, May 4.

Meralco thus avoided the trouble of having to go through a wringer as it assured itself of a seat in the top six where it will figure against another team in a best-of-three slugfest in the quarterfinals.

 

Allein Maliksi returned to the floor with eight minutes to go in the match, scoring a couple of baskets that helped ward off San Miguel's repeated charge while also pulling down a defensive board and dishing an assist in that crucial stretch.

 He finished with a second-best 19 points to provide ample support to Cliff Hodge who put up a double-double outing with 20 points and 17 rebounds.

Chris Newsome chipped in 17 points, six assists and three steals, Bong Quinto scored 12 while Chris Banchero added 10.

 

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Behind June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez, the Beermen got into the thick of battle and trimmed what was once a 16-point deficit at the start of the fourth to two, 91-93, with 2:33 to go.

Gift shots by Chris Banchero allowed the Bolts to stay afloat at 95-91, but San Miguel, despite struggling with a woeful 1-for-4 shooting from the line in the succeeding stretch still had a chance to tie the match as they trailed just by three points with 2.7 ticks left on the clock.

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But with its own goal of making the quarterfinals in mind, Meralco clamped down on defense, forcing Perez to launch a three-pointer from way beyond the arc that went off, preventing the Beermen from completing a rare elimination round sweep in the league that was last done by TNT 10 years ago.

The Bolts instead secured a 6-5 record to join their conquered foe San Miguel, Ginebra (7-3), Magnolia (6-4) and Rain or Shine (6-5) in the next round.

Fajardo finished with a double-double of 23 points and 19 rebounds, Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano logged 14 markers each while Perez was held to eight.

The Scores:

MERALCO 95 – Hodge 20, Maliksi 19, Newsome 17, Quinto 12, Banchero 10, Caram 6, Almazan 6, Bates 5, Pascual 0, Dario 0, Pasaol 0, Torres 0

SAN MIGUEL 92 – Fajardo 23, Cruz 14, Trollano 14, Lassiter 9, Perez 8, Romeo 8, Enciso 6, Tautuaa 4, Brondial 4, Manuel 2, Teng 0, Ross 0

Quarterscores: 27-20, 52-44, 82-66, 95-92

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