Akil Mitchell steers Meralco back to the win column in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday, Jan. 5.
Akil Mitchell leads the way for the Meralco Bolts in an auspicious start to the new year. | Photo (c) RM Chua/One Sports
With the intention of milking the clock, Meralco guard Aaron Black dribbled the ball from the four-point line at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
When Kobey Lam tried to put pressure on him from that distance, Black made his move and blitzed past his Eastern counterpart before soaring for a tough layup against Yeut Pok.
That basket gave Meralco a five-point lead and the Bolts went on to beat the guest team, 88-83, in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday, Jan. 5.
Black finished with nine points that went with five rebounds and three assists.
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As impressive as that sequence was, it was import Akil Mitchell who made the biggest impact for Meralco with his 31 big points.
Mitchell also had 14 rebounds, five assists, and seven steals as the Bolts checked a two-game slide for a 4-2 win-loss record.
After a so-so first half, the masked import made his presence felt in the third period where he dropped 18 of his total output.
“I think, in the first half, I was seeing things that I could take advantage of; and in the second half, they did not make really any adjustments, so I just tried to exploit it," said Mitchell.
"My teammates saw it as well. They called it out and just kept giving it to me," he added.
Bong Quinto chipped in 16 points, four rebounds and two assists, while Chris Newsome had nine points and Cliff Hodge and Chris Banchero added six each.
“This is a good one. We did enough to win. it was a grind out win. Still (a lot of) things to improve on,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo, whose team is slowly getting back to full strength with the return of Brandon Bates, Raymond Almazan, CJ Cansino and Chris Banchero.
The Bolts spoiled the new year for the visiting squad from Hong Kong, which absorbed a third loss against six triumphs.
Eastern relied heavily on Chris McLaughlin, who posted 28 points and 18 rebounds he spiked with three assists, two steals and four blocks.
His quick two with 31 seconds left to play allowed Eastern to close in, but the team just could not do anything that made a dent after that.
Kobey Lam also helped keep the visitors' heads above the water with his 16 points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Steven Guinchard and Hayden Blankley added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Scores:
MERALCO 88 – Mitchell 31, Quinto 16, Black 9, Newsome 9, Black 9, Hodge 6, Banchero 6, Caram 4, Torres 3, Bates 2, Cansino 2, Rios 0, ALmazan 0, Reyson 0.
EASTERN 83 – McLaughlin 28, Lam 16, Guinchard 13, Blankley 12, Cao 5, Cheung 3, Chan 2, Yang 2, Pok 2, Leung 0, Xu 0.
Quarterscores: 19-15, 39-36, 69-67, 88-83.