By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Meralco Bolts quickly bounced back from their loss and crushed the Phoenix Fuelmasters, 91-80, in the ongoing 2021 PBA Philippine Cup.
Fresh from a painful defeat from the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, Meralco asserted themselves early in the game to take control of the tempo.
Nard Pinto’s physical defense and peskiness gave Meralco the edge in the first quarter as the hard-working point guard disrupted Phoenix’s offensive flow.
The momentum set by Pinto then began to spark the team as they just clicked together on the defensive end.
Meralco forced Phoenix to 21 turnovers, one of their highest recorded tallies since head coach Topex Robinson took over.
One department where Meralco also dominated was in terms of rebounding. The Bolts were able to pull down 59 rebounds compared to Phoenix’s 40.
Chris Newsome was once again awesome for the Bolts as he top-scored the game with 23 points backstopped by Pinto and Reynel Hugnatan who scored 11-apiece.
Meanwhile, Phoenix’s main gunner Matthew Wright struggled in the game against Meralco’s consistent defense but was still able to produce 29 points on 10/21 shooting from the field.
Meralco rose to 3-1 in the PBA standings while the loss dropped Phoenix to the 10th spot with a 1-3 record.
