The
B-Boys shut down offensive powerhouse Petron Blaze with mind-boggling ease
Sunday night to win 80-70 and announce that, despite a decimated lineup into the young PBA
Philippine Cup, they are a force to be dealt with.
“Our
battlecry going into this game was that we want to be the best,” a beaming
Meralco coach, Ryan Gregorio, said. “And in order to be the best, I told my
players that we have to beat the best.
“Defense
will keep our boat afloat,” Gregorio went on. “And limiting such a strong
offensive team like Petron to 70 (points), I think we deserve to win this one.”
Petron came into the contest with an unbeaten record in three games, averaging
close to 89 points a contest while playing fluid basketball on both ends.
Solomon
Mercado returned from sick bay in a huge way, leading all Meralco shooters with
16 points, while veteran big man Asi Taulava, despite being a tad slow, hit six
crucial points in the fourth period that helped quell a Petron comeback.
Mercado,
who missed Meralco’s first three games because of a knee injury, hit a triple
early in the fourth period which gave the B-Boys a 63-53 lead.
And it
was all Meralco from there as Taulava dominated the inside like he used to a
decade back and gave the B-Boys the lift they needed in the stretch.
Arwind
Santos led the Boosters with 17 points and 13 rebounds, his fourth straight
double-double, with rookie Chris Lutz contributing 16 markers.
Rain or
Shine also announced its coming later in the night in a 120-84 drubbing of
Alaska that further pronounced how lethargic the Aces have been of late, or
most specifically, after losing coach Tim Cone prior to the start of the
season.
Jeff
Chan drilled in 20 markers and all 13 players who saw action for the Elasto
Painters scored in the franchise’s biggest victory, which, fittingly enough,
was the worst loss for Alaska since the 1992 Third Conference.
The
previous worst setback for the Aces was a 94-62 loss at the hands of Shell, and
this one came at a time when most everyone, including Rain or Shine coach Yeng
Guiao, was expecting Alaska to finally get its bearings together.
“I was
worried that this might be the game that Alaska finally gets its bearings
back,” Guiao, who was ejected in the third quarter because of a second
technical foul, told reporters later. “We’re lucky it wasn’t tonight.” The Aces
lost for the fourth straight game despite finally getting a big outing from
starting guard LA Tenorio.
There
simply was no fire in the Aces, who trailed by 14 after the first period and
were never really factors the rest of the night.
On
Saturday, Barangay Ginebra snapped a two-game losing streak in Victorias City,
Negros Occidental after Mark Caguioa scored on a putback for a 73-72 victory
over Powerade.
Caguioa
was at the right place at the right time and capped a stirring comeback by the
Gin Kings from five points down in the last 55 seconds as Ginebra rose to 2-3
overall.
Gary
David, who came into that game shooting 14-of-15 free throws to lead the
league, missed two charities in the final 14 seconds which could have given the
Tigers, who dropped to 2-2, a three-point cushion.
And
with no timeout left, Jay-Jay Helterbrand went coast-to-coast only to muff a
layup and be bailed out by Caguioa for the game-winner.
