Meralco banked on its solid defense to whip Barangay Ginebra, 93-82, and gain the headstart in their best-of-three quarterfinals duel in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, July 24.
The Bolts clamped down on the defensive end while Aaron Black, Allein Maliksi, and Chris Newsome took care of business in the offense en route to the convincing Game 1 win.
Black topscored for Meralco with 25 points while Newsome orchestrated the attack with an all-around performance of 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Maliksi provided support with 17 points built on three triples.
The Kings, on the other hand, struggled on the offensive and against the suffocating Bolts defense with star guard LA Tenorio going scoreless in 32 minutes of play.
Scottie Thompson was the lone bright spot for Ginebra, dropping 29 points and 10 rebounds but got little support from the supporting cast with Christian Standhardinger and Japeth Aguilar being limited to just 12 and 11 points, respectively, on a combined 10-of-21 shooting from the field.
Meralco seized control of the match in the opening frame when it led 32-25 before padding the lead to 10 at the break, 53-43. The telling run for the Bolts however didn’t come until the latter part of the third when Maliksi, Newsome and Chris Banchero unleashed a back-breaking 11-2 finishing kick to pull away for good.
