Allein Maliksi drops 19 as Meralco survives Rain or Shine

The Meralco Bolts bounced back on Sunday at the expense of the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, 93-88, to notch their fifth win of the conference in the PBA Governors' Cup on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Allein Maliksi led the charge for the Bolts, scoring 12 of his 19-point total in the second half.

Meralco import Tony Bishop had a double-double performance of 26 points and 14 rebounds, while Raymond Almazan addded 17 points.

Henry Walker led Rain or Shine with 24 markers and 10 boards, while Mark Borboran also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Rain or Shine cut their deficit to just a single point at the 6:39 mark of the final quarter, but Meralco went on an 11-3 run to widen their lead to nine with less than four minutes left. Rain or Shine rallied with six unanswered points to shrink the gap to three points before a free throw from Bishop gave the Bolts enough cushion late in the game.

Javee Mocon scored a basket with 20 seconds left before the Bolts called for time. Off an inbound pass from Bong Quinto, Chris Banchero completed a layup which gave them enough breathing space before Walker attempted a triple to give another chance for Rain or Shine.

However, the shot did not connect and with time on Bolts' side, and a split from Bishop eventually sealed the deal for Meralco.

The Elastopainters had the upper hand at the end of the first half, 51-45.

With the win, Meralco improved to 5-1 while the Elastopainters registered back-to-back losses and slid to 3-5.

The Bolts will be back in action on Thursday when they play Terrafirma Dyip while the Elastopainters will go against the NLEX Road Warriors on Friday, both games to be played in the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.

The scores:

Meralco 93 – Bishop 26, Maliksi 19, Almazan 17, Newsome 8, Belo 6, Banchero 6, Black 5, Caram 4, Quinto 2, Hodge 0.

Rain or Shine 88 – Walker 24, Nambatac 12, Belga 12, Borboran 10, Nieto 10, Caracut 8, Mocon 7, Asistio 3, Ponferada 2, Santillan 0, Norwood 0, Jackson 0.

Quarterscores: 20-23, 45-51, 64-65, 93-88.

—JMB, GMA News