Baser Amer gifted himself with a big game on the eve of his 25th birthday, coming to Meralco's rescue as they survived a gritty Blackwater side, 104-96, to claim a berth in the PBA Governors Cup Final Four at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last 28 September.
Amer exploded for a personal conference-high of 31 points and together with Garvo Lanete and Jared Dillinger keyed a decisive fourth-quarter romp that paved the way for their semifinal passage versus the Star Hotshots.
They were pushed to the limit by Henry Walker and his teammates before salvaging a semis entry on their fourth-quarter turnaround.
Dominated by Walker in the first half, the Bolts actually started their fightback in their return from the halftime huddle.
"My guys showed a lot of heart tonight. We're really down at half. We had to find direction for the team as we seemed dead in the water," said Meralco coach Norman Black on their situation at halftime.
"We tried to stay calm as much as possible as we're getting beat badly. We made some adjustments especially on defense. We started to play aggressive on Walker. We put Ranidel (de Ocampo) on Walker and big credit goes to Ranidel," said Black.
The Bolts bucked Walker's huge 27-point first-half explosion and asserted themselves at the finish with the help of Allen Durham who endured an ankle sprain sustained with 7:05 to go in the contest.
"A big credit also goes to AD for coming back after a suffering an injury," said Black of their import who limped to their bench after twisting his right ankle in a rebound play.
Amer came through with his own big rampage in the final half with 22 points, including two huge treys in the final canto.
Amer, Lanete and Dillinger combined for six triples in a decisive attack that sent Meralco ahead to stay at 95-88.
Averaging 27.7 points a game, Walker erupted for 27 right in the first half in this game on 6-of-11 three-pointers, a 7-of-15 overall clip and 7-of-9 free throws.
He piled up five triples in the second quarter where they broke away from a 22-all count and led by 12 at 52-40 at the half.
The Elite's first key run gave them an eight-point lead at 36-28, but Lanete nailed back-to-back treys to cap a 9-0 roll that pushed Meralco ahead at 37-36.
Then Blackwater answered with 12 unanswered points for their first double-digit spread at 48-37.
Walker banged away another trey shortly before the buzzer as the Elite stayed in the lead at 77-73 after the third quarter.
Amer exploded for a personal conference-high of 31 points and together with Garvo Lanete and Jared Dillinger keyed a decisive fourth-quarter romp that paved the way for their semifinal passage versus the Star Hotshots.
They were pushed to the limit by Henry Walker and his teammates before salvaging a semis entry on their fourth-quarter turnaround.
Dominated by Walker in the first half, the Bolts actually started their fightback in their return from the halftime huddle.
"My guys showed a lot of heart tonight. We're really down at half. We had to find direction for the team as we seemed dead in the water," said Meralco coach Norman Black on their situation at halftime.
"We tried to stay calm as much as possible as we're getting beat badly. We made some adjustments especially on defense. We started to play aggressive on Walker. We put Ranidel (de Ocampo) on Walker and big credit goes to Ranidel," said Black.
The Bolts bucked Walker's huge 27-point first-half explosion and asserted themselves at the finish with the help of Allen Durham who endured an ankle sprain sustained with 7:05 to go in the contest.
"A big credit also goes to AD for coming back after a suffering an injury," said Black of their import who limped to their bench after twisting his right ankle in a rebound play.
Amer came through with his own big rampage in the final half with 22 points, including two huge treys in the final canto.
Amer, Lanete and Dillinger combined for six triples in a decisive attack that sent Meralco ahead to stay at 95-88.
Averaging 27.7 points a game, Walker erupted for 27 right in the first half in this game on 6-of-11 three-pointers, a 7-of-15 overall clip and 7-of-9 free throws.
He piled up five triples in the second quarter where they broke away from a 22-all count and led by 12 at 52-40 at the half.
The Elite's first key run gave them an eight-point lead at 36-28, but Lanete nailed back-to-back treys to cap a 9-0 roll that pushed Meralco ahead at 37-36.
Then Blackwater answered with 12 unanswered points for their first double-digit spread at 48-37.
Walker banged away another trey shortly before the buzzer as the Elite stayed in the lead at 77-73 after the third quarter.
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