Bolts buck Franklin’s 57 to outlast FiberXers in overtime

Meralco may not have been able to control the chances of getting a second advantage to beat in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup, but coach Norman Black was satisfied that his team kept going after the loss. won there.

“At least we still have a chance,” Black said after the Bolts’ 132-129 overtime win over the Converge FiberXers in what looked like a game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Buoyed by a late scuffle that required cooler heads to win, the win moved the Bolts into a tie with the FiberXers for fifth at 6-4. But Meralco needs to defeat the Phoenix Fuel Masters on Sunday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City to give hope of a top-four finish.

The complications for the Bolts did not end there despite the win, as NLEX has a 7-3 lead over Meralco, Ginebra has a 5-2 record when it faces Phoenix on Friday night, while San Miguel Beer and TNT. , currently in Japan on East Asian Super League duty, are sitting comfortably with records of 7-2 and 8-1.

Free ride to TNT

The only thing that is certain after the marathon match is that TNT is guaranteed its first quarterfinal bonus with a Meralco victory.

Chances are they won’t pick Meralco, who can only focus on getting the job done against Phoenix.

“NLEX has a chance to go higher in the standings, but they have one tough game left,” Black said. “Of course, we’re fighting Convergent for one of the slots. We have to beat Phoenix to keep going.

The second straight loss puts the FiberXers, also 6-4, back in the hunt for the top four with Ginebra on Sunday at Philsports.

spoiled night

Convergent ended up ruing a 57-point performance from import Jamaal Franklin, who fell short in overtime. He also had 14 rebounds and 11 assists to become the first PBA player to have a triple-double of 50 points.

It also hampered the return of big leaguer Danny Ildefonso, a FiberXers assistant who played four minutes in the first quarter and is still trying to regain his game form.

Meralco’s main weapons stepped up, including Allein Maliksi, whose third with 34 seconds left in the extra session made it a 130-128 advantage.

But Maliksi was later sent off when he grabbed Converge’s Barkley Ebona by the neck during a confrontation with six seconds left. Maliksi who was not happy with Ebona’s 1st foul hitting the clothesline, was thrown for 2nd foul in retaliation.

“If he didn’t do it on purpose [that’s okay]but that’s not the case,” Maliksi said despite being approached by Ebona, who for his part explained that he was surprised that he had violated the Meralco shooter.

“You didn’t intend to hit him in the neck,” Ebona explained. “It just so happens that they want to get out of double teams and not commit turnovers.”

The two players are expected to be called by the PBA Commissioner’s Office, but Black said it is part of what is at stake at this point in the conference at the end of the season.

“The game is very current and they are very exciting,” Black said. “The players really want to win the game, so they are fighting to stay alive in the standings and have a chance to make it to the playoffs.”

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