Meralco may have drawn first blood, but the war still isn’t over.
Jared Dillinger knows that despite winning over Mahindra twice this conference, owning the opponent’s number doesn’t guarantee sweeps, especially come playoff time.
“They were both close games so it wasn’t like we were completely dominating them,” he said.
The Bolts escaped the Enforcers, 86-83 in their elimination duel, and repeated again in the fourth place playoff, 104-99 on Wednesday.
“It was really a tough game all the way to the end. So for us, we hit the big shots, we get a couple of breaks, and we end up on top,” he said.
Meralco dug itself from a 16-point deficit, 57-41 and fired a 19-2 run to get back in the game and lead, 60-59 in the third frame to set the stage for the nip-and-tuck finish.
Dillinger also proved himself pivotal in the end game, draining two threes to close the deal out in the clutch.
He came off the bench and poured 22 points on a 4-of-8 shooting from threes.
“We just knew we had to match their energy coming out. They’re a very energetic team so we just wanted to come out there and match their energy and we were able to get some stops and run and hit a couple of shots. It just kind of snowballed from there. We were able to finally put a good squad out there that was able to make some stops,” he said.
Though coming away with a confidence-boosting win, Dillinger made it clear that the Bolts’ eyes are focused on the rematch on Saturday between the four and five-seeds.
“It’s still going to be tough and we’re not taking them for granted at all,” he said. “They have a lot of mismatches for us. It’s going to be a battle come Saturday. It’s not going to be easy.”