Meralco sends defending champion Barangay Ginebra on the brink of elimination

Second seed Meralco Bolts put its archrival Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings on the verge of getting eliminated after a 79-66 victory on Thursday in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup in Bacolor, Pampanga.

With the loss, Ginebra will need NorthPort to win against Alaska in order to set up a playoff for no. 8 against Phoenix. Should Alaska win, Ginebra will drop to 10th place and miss the playoffs.

A win by already-ousted Aces would also mean Phoenix and Terrafirma will slug it out for the no. 8 spot.

Meralco, meanwhile, wrapped up its elimination round campaign with a 9-2 card before heading to the quarterfinal round with a twice-to-beat bonus.

"Ginebra is really the 'Never Say Die' team over the years and we just wanted to have the momentum going into the playoffs," said Meralco head coach Norman Black, whose team was coming off a win against NLEX on Wednesday night.

"We didn't want to come off a loss."

Pasaol had 13 points in the first two quarters to steer Meralco to a 47-32 lead at the half.

Ginebra, however, launched a 13-3 run to open the third frame before Pasaol stopped the bleeding with an off-the-glass basket, 52-45, with Meralco still leading.

The Gin Kings also outscored Meralco during that frame, 19-9, to conclude the penultimate quarter trailing by four, 55-51.

The Bolts got their act together in the final period and even stretched their lead to as many as 16 points after a 6-0 personal run from Raymon Jamito, 79-63.

Ginebra would still score three-straight points from Jeff Chan and Christian Standhardinger but time wasn't on their side as Meralco sealed the deal.

Pasaol and Mac Belo paced the team after they produced 15 points and seven rebounds apiece while Chris Newsome added 10 markers and nine boards.

Stanley Pringle and Standhardinger led the gallant fight by Ginebra after they listed 19 and 17 points, respectively, with Standhardinger adding 14 boards and four assists.

NorthPort and Alaska will face each other today at 4:35 p.m. to wrap up the elimination round.

The scores:

Meralco 79 - Belo 15, Pasaol 15, Newsome 10, Quinto 8, Jamito 7, Maliksi 7, Almazan 6, Caram 4, Hodge 3, Baclao 2, Pinto 2, Jackson 0

Barangay Ginebra 66 - Pringle 19, Standhardinger 17, Tenorio 11, Chan 7, Mariano 6, Devance 4, Dillinger 2, Caperal 2, Enriquez 0, R. Aguilar 0,  Holmqvist 0

Quarter scores: 23-15, 47-32, 55-51, 79-66

—MGP, GMA News