By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Meralco Bolts pulled off its biggest win of the PBA Philippine Cup regular season after becoming the first team in the conference to taint the record of the mighty San Miguel Beermen, 95-92, on May 4, 2024, at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Not only did Meralco hand San Miguel its lone loss of the Philippine Cup but with the win, they also punched a PBA playoff seat and are on their way to the tournament quarterfinals.
The first three quarters looked like a lopsided scenario for the Bolts as they established a sizable 17-point lead and successfully maintained their cushion after every quarter.
However, the Beermen flipped the switch in the fourth and final quarter of the game and got to within a deuce, 86-84.
San Miguel had the chance to take the lead with six minutes still left but Terrence Romeo’s wide-open three-pointer from the right elbow missed.
Allein Maliski then played a spoiler to the Beermen after hitting a three-pointer on the other end and followed it up with a sweet dime to Cliff Hodge that put the Bolts up by seven points, 91-84.
With the 11-0 sweep on the line for San Miguel, the veteran squad gave their all and hosted another massive comeback when they trimmed their deficit to just two points, 93-91, off a CJ Perez long bomb.
However, an unfortunate trip to the free throw line by the Beermen in their next possessions, fumbled their chance of stealing away the momentum from Meralco.
Chris Banchero then drained the two most important freebies for the Bolts that helped them build a three-point lead, 95-92.
San Miguel had the chance to force overtime with 2.6 seconds left in the game but Perez missed his three-point attempt from the top of the key that would’ve tied things up at 95-all.
Hodge top-scored for Meralco and wrapped up his all-around effort with 20 points and 13 rebounds while Maliksi turned back the hands of time and added 19 big markers in the win.
Meanwhile, Chris Newsome, Meralco’s glue guy and veteran shooting guard, stuffed the stat sheets after chipping in 17 points, six assists, three rebounds, and three steals.
