Chris Newsome of Meralco Bolts in the match of the Philippine PBA Cup against Nlex Road Warriors. –PBA Images
The reigning champion Meralco stopped at the sequence of victories of six Nlex matches by winning a 108-92 victory which strengthened his hopes in the quarter-finals in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday in Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Chris Newsome, CJ Cansino, Bong Quinto, Chris Banchero and the Falaise Return Hodge played key parts while the Bols resumed their second consecutive triumph for a 5-5 card with a game to play in their Russian mountain campaign.
Meralco also denied the first Nlex crack to ensure a place in the quarter-final while dealing with the road warriors their first major adversity in their impressive race at this stage of the all-Filino tournament.
Nlex fell tied for second place at 6-2 with San Miguel Beer, who previously crushed Blackwater in the first game.
Newsome scored 21 points in addition to five assists and two interceptions, Cansino lost 20 points from the bench, Quinto and Banchero added 18 and 16 while Hodge had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Hodge returned to action after having served a suspension of a match for his brutal fault on Zavier Lucero de Magnolia during their match a few weeks ago.
Robert Bolick reached 22 points, but the Road Warriors could not finish their return against a Meralco team who sorely needed a victory to avoid other complications.
Meralco concludes his eliminations on Friday against the former rival Barangay Ginebra at the Smart Araneta Coliseum before focusing on the Asia campaign of the Basketball Champions League in Dubai.
Nlex seeks to bounce back and secure a siege in the quarter -finals on Sunday in front of Phoenix at the Big Dome.
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