Akil Mitchell dazzles as Meralco fends off Eastern to snap skid

Meralco made sure to open 2025 the right way, turning to import Akil Mitchell in eking out an 88-83 victory against Eastern Hong Kong in PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 

The American import made a living on the paint as he dropped a game-high 31 points, 18 of which he dropped in the third quarter, while also grabbing 14 rebounds, seven steals, and five assists to help the Bolts snap a two-game skid and improve to 4-2. 

Eastern, meanwhile, failed to shake off the rust after a lengthy respite that saw them take a much-needed 14-day break as they slid to 6-3. 

"Honestly, I just felt I got into a little bit of a rhythm coming off the break. I'm used to playing every few days and here, we got long stretches of time off," Mitchell said.

"I think the first half, I was seeing things that I could take advantage of and in the second half, they didn't make any adjustments so I just tried to exploit it. 

Separated by three points to end the first half and two markers to close out the third period, both teams knew they had to double up on effort on both ends come the pivotal fourth quarter. 

Kobey Lam understood the task as he completed a three-point first to trim the deficit to just one, 78-79, after his side trailed by as much as nine.

But just as the Hong Kong-based team was getting its momentum back, Chris Newsome buried a huge three-pointer before Bong Quinto's pair of free throws sent the Bolts to another comfortable 84-78 cushion in the final 3:09. 

Aaron Black then made up for a missed open layup early on the previous play as he broke the defense of Lam and soared over Yuet Yeung Pok to make it an 86-81 spread. 

Eastern had multiple chances to stage a comeback but endgame lapses proved costly for the visiting team with Pok failing to secure the pass off an offensive rebound from Chris McLaughlin, ultimately allowing Meralco to seal the deal. 

"This is a good one. We did enough to win, it was a grind out win. [There are a] lot to improve on, we missed, I think, 19 free throws," Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo said

"We knew they'd come back sa third, they had 31 points, but I think we did enough to hold the fort and get this W."

Quinto led the local support with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists while Newsome and Black each finished with nine markers. 

The win also witnessed the return of rookie CJ Cansino, who had been sidelined for the last three months due to an ankle sprain. The former UP standout, though, saw limited action and scored just two points in nine minutes of play. 

McLaughlin, meanwhile, paced Eastern with a massive double-double outing of 28 points and 18 rebounds to go with three assists, four blocks, and two steals. 

Scores:

Meralco 88 – Mitchell 31, Quinto 16, Black 9, Newsome 9, Black 9, Hodge 6, Banchero 6, Caram 4, Torres 3, Bates 2, Cansino 2, Rios 0, ALmazan 0, Reyson 0.

Eastern 83 – McLaughlin 28, Lam 16, Guinchard 13, Blankley 12, Cao 5, Cheung 3, Chan 2, Yang 2, Pok 2, Leung 0, Xu 0.

Quarters: 19-15, 39-36, 69-67, 88-83.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News