Jansen Rios buried a clutch triple in the dying seconds, enabling Meralco to shrug off Terrafirma, 96-91, last 6 December and grab a share of the PBA Commissioner's Cup lead at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Rios' unmolested shot from the right corner gave the Bolts a 94-91 lead and Chris Newsome added two charities following the Dyip's erratic plays inside the final 9.4 seconds.
The victory was Meralco's third in as many games, tying it with idle NorthPort at the top, while the loss was winless Terrafirma's fourth.
Coach Luigi Trillo is just glad his team was able to hang on despite blowing as much as a 67-51 third quarter lead against a Terrafirma side that showed uncanny character in tying the game up for the fifth and last time at 91-all, still 1:05 to go.
"We got lucky. When you think about it, maganda 'yung start ng Terrafirma. It's hard when you've got new guys coming in, a new import just like us. But I thought they played very well in that first half," said Trillo.
"We got it together in the third, good enough to get a lead, and at the start of the fourth. But you've got to give them credit. They're resilient out there, maganda gel nila ng import nila. Those players didn't give up," added Trillo.
New import DJ Kennedy led that third quarter assault with 19 of his gamehigh 32 points on top of six rebounds and four assists, the last the pass that found the wide-open Rios.
"I think the biggest thing is how physical the game is. The refs will let you play, you've got to play through it. It's no big deal for me," said Kennedy, who came off the bench and immediately picked up three fouls in just under five minutes of play before settling down.
Newsome flirted with a triple double with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, Raymond Almazan continued his fine play of late with 15 points and 12 boards while Rios finished with 11 markers.
Brandon Edwards, also a replacement import, had 21 points and 13 rebounds for Terrafirma, but missed a short stab that led to that Rios basket.
Brent Paraiso wound up with 20 points and Vic Manuel 13 as they mostly alternated in bringing the Dyip back to within eight at the end of the third period and an 82-91 deficit going to the last four minutes of play.
"I'm not happy with the way we executed. We had it in the bag and we let... that last three minutes we let them back into the game," said Trillo. "It's good that Jansen hit that 3."
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