GAINED the upper hand in the ongoing best-of-seven Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup finals last time around, the Meralco Bolts try to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings as they trek back to the court today for Game Four at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Delivering the big plays down the stretch in Game Three on Wednesday night en route to a 107-103 win, the Bolts moved a step closer to their first-ever PBA championship title.
Veterans Jimmy Alapag and Reynel Hugnatan came up big for Meralco in their last game, hitting five three-pointers between them in the fourth period that kept their team’s motor humming just as Barangay Ginebra tried to overtake them.
Two of Mr. Hugnatan’s three triples in the final canto came inside the last two minutes of the contest that greatly frustrated the Kings, who were angling to win back-to-back after claiming Game Two of the series.
Thirteen-year veteran Hugnatan wound with 17 points, to go along with eight rebounds, while former Gilas captain Alapag had 18 and six assists.
Their solid play complemented the game-long brilliance of import Allen Durham, the winner of the best import award in the season-ending PBA tournament, and rookie Chris Newsome.
Mr. Durham had a monster double-double of 36 points and 20 rebounds while former Ateneo standout Newsome collected 22 points and seven rebounds to earn player of the game honors.
“It was a tough win for us. Neither team really wanted to lose up to the end. After the loss in Game Two, we wanted to take this game. And I’m happy with did win and now we’re closer to where we want to be,” said Meralco Coach Norman Black after their win.
He, however, added that they are not getting ahead of themselves and will still take it one game at a time.
“It has been a game of adjustments with [Ginebra] Coach Tim [Cone]. In Game Two, they threw wrinkles at us that gave us a hard time. We will just be ready come Game Four,” said Mr. Black, who is in a position to make history as the first coach to win a title with four different PBA teams.
Mr. Black previously won titles with San Miguel, Sta. Lucia and Talk ‘N Text.
Dealt a setback, Barangay Ginebra, for its part, said it will try to bounce back and play better, particularly on the defensive end.
“Defensively we did not play good enough tonight. We gave up 107 points and that’s too much,” said Kings Coach Tim Cone in assessing their performance in Game Three.
“If we are to succeed we have to play better defense. That has put us in the position we are in and we cannot deviate from that at this stage of the competition,” he added.
Import Justin Brownlee led the way for the Kings in a losing cause, finishing with 42 points and 13 rebounds.
Meanwhile, prior to Game Four today set for 8:15 p.m., the annual Leo Awards will be held at 7 p.m. The Awards will see the top individual performers in the PBA this season feted.
© MYBigBrother Mike Murillo | BusinessWorldOnline