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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
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04
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20
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2024
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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
04
20
2024
Meralco has all the reasons to be wary of San Miguel Beer. Add to that the Bolts’ curious experience in facing the Beermen in the same stretch of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup last season.
They’re sporting the same record, as now, when they ran into the Beermen then, and fell in a match in Cagayan de Oro.
Coach Norman Black is hoping for a different result as they mix it up with coach Leo Austria and his Beermen in a Petron Blaze Saturday Special over at the Ibalong Centrum in Legazpi City.
The Bolts seek to stretch their unbeaten run to six games while the Beermen gun for a third straight win after a conference losing debut as they slug it out in the road game at 5 p.m.
“It’s a very interesting game,” said Black, himself recalling their sad experience last year where they were unable to sustain a scorching start after import Josh Davis was hit by an injury.
The Bolts then salvaged entry into the Final Four, but Davis went down for good and they lost the series to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
It will be Arinze Onuaku versus Tyler Wilkerson this time.
Onuaku struggled fresh from a bout with a mild case of food poisoning but Meralco drew a solid job from its local crew in topping Globalport, 96-88, the last time out.
Jarred Dillinger and Reynel Hugnatan scored 29 points together coming off the bench and Meralco pounded Globalport, 57-24, overall in bench scoring as the Bolts matched their franchise-record start in this tourney last year.
Meanwhile, Wilkerson came up with another productive performance with 35 points and 17 rebounds while Junmar Fajardo contributed 20 markers and seven boards as the Beermen whipped the Blackwater Elite, 108-96, for a second straight win.
Wilkerson fired away four triples and a total of 35 in a follow-up to his 52-point explosion laced by seven treys versus Globalport.
Arwind Santos, returning from a one-game layoff, sparked their third-quarter onslaught with back-to-back three-pointers, and the one-time MVP winner wound up with a near double-double job with 10 rebounds and nine points.
As he sat out their last game to rest a mild injury, Santos saw the end of a streak of 305 straight games dating back to 2010 – the third longest in PBA history.
“If I was aware of the record, I could have elected to play,” said Santos.
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