The Meralco Bolts kept its winning streak going, holding off San Miguel 100-93 last 18 January in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner's Cup at the Candon City Arena.
The Bolts won their third straight game following another solid defensive effort where they limited their opponent once again to less than 100 points.
Meralco improved to 7-3 joining NorthPort, Converge, and Eastern in the logjam at No. 2. San Miguel slid to 4-5 to remain at eighth place in the standings.
Akil Mitchell had 26 points and 16 rebounds for the Bolts, while also being one of the players who drained key shots to pull away from the tightly-contested match against the Beermen.
Chris Newsome had 20 points, while Chris Banchero added 19 points as the two also helped Meralco get the win after trailing by three, 89-86, in their first game against San Miguel since winning the 2024 Philippine Cup last July.
Newsome tied the game with a three, followed by a basket by Banchero to put the Bolts ahead for good. Mitchell scored a three-point play with 2:53 left to bring the Meralco lead to 96-89.
Rookie CJ Cansino even joined the late scoring binge by Meralco with a crucial jumper to make it 98-93 after San Miguel came to within three.
Prior to the pullaway, the game had six ties and 12 lead changes.
The Bolts spoiled the first game of Beermen’s fourth import Malik Pope, who had 14 points and nine rebounds in his PBA debut.
June Mar Fajardo had 20 points and 13 rebounds, while CJ Perez had 16 points on 6 of 13 shooting from the field for the Beermen, who have lost for the third time in four outings.
San Miguel is surrounded in the team standings by its fellow SMC squads with Barangay Ginebra at seventh with a 6-4 slate, and Magnolia at ninth with 4-6.
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