Meralco survives NLEX, secures twice-to-beat bonus in quarterfinals

The Meralco Bolts cemented their hold of the second spot after turning back the NLEX Road Warriors, 104-101, on Wednesday in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup elimination round in Bacolor, Pampanga.

The win gave the Bolts an 8-2 card and a much-needed twice-to-beat incentive come the quarterfinal round and will now join sister team TNT Tropang Giga as the two teams with the said bonus.

The Road Warriors, meanwhile, dropped to 5-6 but they are already assured of a quarterfinal berth.

Meralco had to hold off a late rally by the feisty NLEX squad, as the Bolts momentarily found themselves in a neck-and-neck battle after leading by as many as 20 points.

JR Quiñahan sank both his charities to cut the Road Warriors' deficit to a single-digit spread, 101-92, with 1:57 left to play in the fourth quarter.

Back-to-back triples from scorching Calvin Oftana sparked a 6-2 run for NLEX as Nards Pinto missed both his free throws, 103-98, with barely 10 seconds left in the clock.

Oftana shot another three-pointer to make it a one-possession game, then Raymond Almazan answered with split on the charity lane. However, NLEX ran out of opportunities to make another shot as the time expired.

Allein Maliksi starred again for the Bolts after listing 22 points on four-of-six shooting beyond the arc to go with four rebounds. Almazan flaunted a double-double effort of 13 markers and 11 boards.

Mac Belo added 16 points while Bong Quinto registered 10.

NLEX was lifted by the hot-shooting of Oftana, who poured in 34 points while Quiñahan contributed  13.

The scores:

Meralco 104 - Maliksi 22, Pasaol 17, Belo 16, Quinto 10, Almazan 13,  Caram 10, Pinto 8, Jackson 2, Baclao 2, Hodge 2, Jamito 2

NLEX 101 - Oftana 34, Soyud 14, Quiñahan 13, Trollano 9, Ighalo 8, Mcaloney 7, Paniamogan 6, Cruz 3, Semerad 3, Alas 2, Miranda 2

Quarter scores: 30-20, 65-54, 89-74, 104-101

—MGP, GMA News