PBA: Meralco continues surge as Powerade stumbles anew

The Meralco Bolts' power trio of Sol Mercado, Mark Cardona, and import Mario West combined for 59 points, while the defense held their foes, the Powerade Tigers to just 12 fourth quarter points to produce a 91-78 rout, Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in the PBA Governors' Cup.

"Our destiny is still in our hands," said Bolts head coach Ryan Gregorio, as the team strung together two wins in a row to stay in contention for a top-six spot in the standings. "It's [this win] because of our lockdown defensive mentality. I told [Mario] West that he's up against David, who is the best offensive player in the league."

In fact it was David and West's counterpart, Omar Sneed, who led Powerade to a slim lead in the first, 24-21. Then in the second quarter, the Tigers continued to build on their strong start, grabbing a seven point lead two minutes in, 30-23.
 
Consecutive hits by Meralco had the Bolts creeping closer, 32-30, before Cardona finally put his team in the driver's seat, 37-35. The Cardona offensive continued until the end of the first half as Meralco grabbed a one point lead heading into the dugout, 43-42.
 
Come the third, the back-and-forth between the two sides continued before David and Rey Guevarra finally overcame the Meralco deficit to retake the lead, 63-59. But before the buzzer sounded at the end of the period, West had back-to-back hits to put Meralco on top yet again, 68-66.
 
The final period was a Sol Mercado show. Despite coming off the bench, Mercado started hitting from all spots, with his three-pointer giving the Bolts a six point advantage early on, 74-68.
 
The fiery combo guard was not done, as his lay-up had Meralco up 10, 78-68, three minutes into the period. The sweet shooting rubbed off on Mercado's teammates, as Reynel Hugnatan and Cardona then teamed up to close out the game for Meralco.

"Sol [Mercado] played magnificent basketball in the fourth quarter," Gregorio said admiringly.

In addition to playing great defense on David, West added 29 points, nine rebounds, two steals and three blocks. Mercado added 15 markers and six assists, while Cardona scored 15 as well, in addition to six boards and three dimes.

Omar Sneed top-scored for the Tigers with 23 points, along with 17 boards and five assists. Gary Dvid was heeled to 20 points on 9-of-21 shooting and had no attempts at the foul line. Super-sub Rey Guevarra was the only other Powerade player in double-figures, chipping in 12.

Meralco shot a blistering 52.1 percent from the field when the game was over, compared to just 39.5 percent for Powerade.

It was Powerade's second straight loss after a horrible defensive showing against the Air21 Express that saw them give up 128 points last Friday. As a result, both the Tigers and the Bolts are tied in the standings with 4-4 records, along with the Petron Blaze Boosters and the Barangay Ginebra Kings. — ELR/AMD, GMA News
 
The scores:
 
MERALCO 91 - West 29, Mercado 15, Cardona 15, Hugnatan 14, Taulava 7, Bulawan 6, Macapagal 3, Ross 2, Reyes 0.
 
POWERADE 78 - Sneed 23, David 20, Guevarra 12, Casio 6, Al-Hussaini 4, Belasco 4, Anthony 3, Lingganay 2, Salvador 2, Adducul 2, Vanlandingham 0, Tugade 0.
 
Quarter scores: 21-24, 43-42, 68-66, 91-78