Meralco bested playoff rival Ginebra in their best-of-seven semifinal battle that went the distance, etching history along the way.
Chris Banchero hit the big shots and Meralco bested Ginebra, 78-69, in the do-or-die Game 7 of their penultimate round battle to advance to the PBA Philippine Cup Finals on Friday, May 31.
Banchero fired a team-high 24 points, more than half of which he produced in the middle quarters to help the Bolts erase an 11-point deficit in the second period and build their own 11-point lead in the third which they protected to the finish.
Meralco thus advanced to the All-Filipino conference finals for the first time where it will face San Miguel in a best-of-seven clash that starts on Wednesday, June 5.
In prevailing over their playoff rivals, the Bolts also secured their maiden win in a best-of-seven series and first Game Seven win for their franchise.
“This is big for our franchise. We've been to other import-backed conference [finals] but this is the first time [we made the] All-Filipino,” said Bolts coach Luigi Trillo.
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Chris Newsome backed Banchero with 20 points as they made up for Allein Maliksi's meager two-point output.
Bong Quinto and Cliff Hodge combined for 18 points and nine boards for Meralco, which stretched its advantage to 74-58 on Banchero's awkward layup after splitting the defense of Japeth Aguilar and Stanley Pringle at the 5:39 mark of the fourth.
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The Bolts used a furious 31-11 second period to establish control, then kicked into high gear in the succeeding quarter before cruising to the sensational victory.
Scottie Thompson mounted every ounce of his energy left to try to will the Gin Kings back from the dead, dropping two triples to trim the gap to 65-76 heading into the final two minutes.
But Ginebra just could not whip up something big to turn things around, with Christian Standhardinger being limited to a subpar 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field.
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Thompson paced the Gin Kings with with 20 markers, 10 boards, six assists and four steals, but his efforts proved futile in the end.
Stanley Pringle chipped in 13 points.
The Scores:
MERALCO 78 – Banchero 24, Newsome 20, Quinto 10, Hodge 8, Bates 6, Almazan 3, Caram 3, Pascual 2, Maliksi 2, Mendoza 0
GINEBRA 69 – Thompson 20, Standhardinger 16, Pringle 13, J.Aguilar 8, Pinto 5, Ahamisi 4, Cu 3, Tenorio 0
Quarterscores: 15-20, 36-31, 62-51, 78-69