MERALCO EVENS SERIES

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JARED Dillinger provided the spark Meralco needed in overcoming San Mig Coffee, 73-69, Tuesday that evened up their PBA Governors Cup semifinals series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

In only his third game in the conference Dillinger came off the bench and was all over the place, scoring, assisting, rebounding and generally making the plays that kept the Bolts’ heads above water in the face of unrelenting pressure from the Mixers.

“When we got Jared we were really prepared to play him multiple positions, from 1 to 4. That’s the kind of flexibility he brings to our team,” said Bolts coach Ryan Gregorio of the former TNT guard-forward who scored 10 points and also had four assists and a block.

“He gave us a big lift tonight, giving the extra pass and making shots.”

Reynel Hugnatan did his ample share with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Cliff Hodge added 12 and nine to make up for another relatively quiet night from Mario West as Meralco negated a 73-83 loss in the best-of-five opener last Sunday.

After scoring just nine points West had 17 points but only on an 8-for-36 field shooting. But such a performance should only be expected from a yet another struggle from the league’s top two defensive teams.

In the end, Meralco made just 26 of 85 field goal attempts while San Mig fared just slightly better by going 21-for-55.

It is something Gregorio could live with. “We perfectly prepared for a situation like this,” he said.

“It’s gonna be a grind for both teams putting emphasis on defense. Limiting them to 69 speaks of the desire.”

The rest of the series, reduced to a best-of-three starting Friday, should go along similar lines, added Gregorio.

“It’s gonna get harder from hereon,” said Gregorio. “I think there’s no shift in the philosophy of both teams. Both teams like to play defense.”

After scoring his first seven points off charities Marqus Blakely started hitting his offensive stride with back-to-back treys in the last 69 seconds of the third period and wound up with  gamehighs of 24 points and 15 rebounds.

Yet the others who helped make the Game 1 win possible, Joe Devance, Alex Mallari and Marc Pingris, were veritable no-shows and only relievers Yancy de Ocampo and Rafi Reavis stepped up to keep San Mig close up to a point.

Still, Meralco was given one big scare.

Despite their own struggles from the field the Mixers kept mustering the charge needed in nearly razing a 12-point deficit in the second quarter and a 55-65 one in the fourth.

James Yap’s charities capped his 13-point performance and made it a 68-70 count, still 2:28 left, but that would prove to be San Mig’s last gasp.

West scored on a twisting drive and the Bolts went into the final 1:23 of play with a three-point lead after Marqus Blakely could only come up with a charity split.

Sunday Salvacion then sealed the deal and his own 12-point game with a charity in the last 5.3 seconds. (NC)

The scores:

Meralco 73 – West 17, Hugnatan 15, Hodge 12, Salvacion 12, Dillinger 10, Wilson 5, Reyes 2, Ross 0, Cardona 0, Cortez 0.

San Mig 69 – Blakely 24, Yap 13, De Ocampo 10, Reavis 9, Mallari 4, Barroca 4, Simon 3, Najorda 2, Pinferrada 0, Gaco 0, Devance 0, Pingris 0.

Quarters: 19-8, 34-30, 56-50, 73-69

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