THE Meralco Bolts waxed hot from the outside to bring down Barangay Ginebra, 104-102 and tie the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals series up at 1-1 at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City on Friday, January 10, 2020.
The Bolts drained a whopping 16 trifectas — a new PBA record — including a couple of very long ones from Baser Amer that put the fire from a Ginebra comeback attempt out.
It was a remarkable turnaround by Meralco, which made just seven of their 32 attempts in the series opener earlier this week.
Meralco import Allen Durham cashed in a double-double of 21 points and 18 rebounds in spite being hounded all game long by Ginebra’s Aljon Mariano. Chris Newsome was plagued by foul trouble but still managed 17 points and seven assists.
Amer also had 17 markers, his last triple giving the Bolts a 101-91 lead with 2:12 remaining.
Big man Raymond Almazan added 15 while Nards Pinto chipped in 12, all from beyond the arc.
The two teams will see each other again in Game Three on Sunday.
The scores:
Meralco (104) Durham 21, Amer 17, Newsome 17, Almazan 15, Pinto 12, Salva 9, Caram 5, Quinto 5, Faundo 3, Hodge 0, Hugnatan 0, Maliksi 0.
Barangay Ginebra (102) Brownlee 35, Pringle 23, J. Aguilar 18, Tenorio 10, Slaughter 6, Thompson 4, Caguioa 4, Mariano 2, Caperal 0, Dela Cruz 0, Devance 0.
Quarters: 36-21; 63-46; 82-76; 104-102.