The Meralco Bolts pushed the five-time defending champion San Miguel Beermen to the edge by hanging on for a 78-71 victory in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals Friday at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena and Cultural Center.
Reynel Hugnatan came up big in the first three quarters before rookie Aaron Black rose to the occasion for the fifth-seeded Bolts, who forced a do-or-die match against a twice-to-beat SMB team looking to avoid an unceremonious end to its reign in the All-Filipino series. The elimination game is Sunday, Nov. 15.
Meralco started out strong but merely held a slim 71-67 advantage against the Beermen, who tried to orchestrate a comeback in the final five minutes that would have made them the first team to enter the second round of the playoffs.
The Bolts, however, had other plans and remained steady in the endgame even as their offense basically stalled in the fourth period.
Hugnatan first ended Meralco's three-minute drought without a field goal by hitting a much-needed jumper to restore the lead to six, then Black later capped off a big game with a booming corner three that gave the Bolts a 76-67 lead with under two minutes to go.
That proved to be the decider for Meralco, which held on the rest of the way to give head coach Norman Black a fitting present a day after his birthday.
"Well my birthday was yesterday but I'll take these gifts, even if it's a day late," he said after the game. "We really needed this win to put a little bit of pressure on San Miguel and to send us into its best-of-two series."
Hugnatan finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, two rebounds, two assists and two steals to lead the Bolts.
The younger Black, on the other hand, scored 11 of his 14 points in a pivotal fourth quarter for the Bolts. He also made three triples during the final 12 minutes, giving a Bolts offense that stalled midway a big jolt in the win.
"It is a confidence booster for us," said Aaron. "We know they're going to come out on Sunday with everything they got so we have to be prepared for that. We just said this is only halftime. We won one game, we have not done anything yet, we have to get the next one."
"Aaron has a lot of improvement ahead of him. He really has to work on his game, but he does have confidence. Sometimes too much, but he does have confidence to shoot the basketball," coach Norman said while laughing.
Defense was the name of the game as both teams shot under 36 percent, but it was Meralco who was more impressive on that end of the floor early on after jumping to a15-4 lead and holding the Beermen to just 11 points in the first quarter.
San Miguel, however, sat on a zone defense later in the game to make it a close game even after falling by as many as 16 in the first half.
Fortunately for the Bolts, that early first-half lead and some stringent work on the defensive end proved to be enough of a cushion until some close calls in the fourth quarter.
"We didn't shoot the ball extremely well tonight. We shot the ball poorly, but at the same time our defense held up," said Black. "I'm just happy that my players stood firm at the end, they made some crucial shots at the end. That's really all it takes to advance. You really have to come up big when it's playoff time."
Baser Amer had his moments and tallied 12 points and three triples, while top gun Chris Newsome had an off night but still finished with 11 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Bong Quinto narrowly missed a double-double by recording nine and 13 boards to go with four dimes for the Bolts.
San Miguel got 14 and 11 rebounds for Moala Tautuaa. Marcio Lassiter added 14 points but needed 18 shots to get there, and he only made 1-for-9 threes. Chris Ross had 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting but added seven assists and six rebounds.
THE SCORES
Meralco 78 -- Hugnatan 16, Black 14, Amer 12, Newsome 11, Quinto 9, Hodge 6, Faundo 4, Maliksi 4, Jamito 2, Jackson 0, Caram 0, Almazan 0.
San Miguel 71 -- Tautuaa 14, Lassiter 12, Ross 10, Escoto 10, Zamar 8, Santos 8, Alolino 6, Gamalinda 2, Mamaril 1, Pessumal 0, Comboy 0.
Quarters: 21-11, 40-31, 59-51, 78-71.
EXTRA DRIBBLES
- Alex Cabagnot missed the game for San Miguel as he dealt with a straight hamstring.
- Raymond Almazan played only two minutes and was helped off the court in the first quarter after a collision with Pessumal.
- SMB shot 5-for-32 from long range. Meralco was slightly better and made eight threes on 35 attempts, but its 34.5 percent shooting from the field was a tad worse than the 35.1 percent the Beermen shot in the game.
UP NEXT
SMB vs. Meralco Game 2 on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 6:45 pm