The Meralco Bolts has cemented its position in the best-of-three pairings in the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals after dealing Terrafirma its 11th loss of the tournament, 105-89, last 21 July at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Bolts drew double-digit production from five players led by Chris Newsome to take care of business in their final game of the elims and assure themselves of fourth or fifth spot in the Last-8.
The Dyip failed to salvage at least a win in the season-opening tournament and suffered the same fate as the winless batch back in the 2017 Governors' Cup under the Kia Picanto banner.
"It was a tough game. This was Terrafirma's last game and they came to play so we had to earn it," said Meralco's acting coach Luigi Trillo, whose charges didn't really shake off the Dyip until the final push.
"Important thing was, since coach Norman (Black) left, we had five games and won four so we got the job done. Now what matters is at least we solidified ourselves in a best-of-three," he added.
Newsome rifled in 19 points highlighted by a 4-of-5 three-point clip that went with six rebounds and five assists while Aaron Black shot 16 and Raymond Almazan dropped 14 with nine boards.
The trio got offensive support from Allein Maliksi (14) and Bong Quinto (13).
The win gave Meralco back-to-back victories to end the elims and momentum heading into the next round versus either Barangay Ginebra or Magnolia.
"We have to wait if Ginebra or Magnolia. But I can't be prouder of everybody, from the players to the coaching staff. Coach Norman's not here so we have to do what we do. At least moving forward, we're there, in the playoffs," said Trillo.
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