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PACQUIAO INSPIRES REVILLA-LED KIA TO WIN OVER MERALCO
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KIA has just thrown a monkey wrench on the PBA Governors Cup projections.
With LA Revilla leading those Carnival who showed nerves of steel in the stretch an 88-85 upset win over Meralco was fashioned Wednesday as they stayed in the hunt for the last quarterfinals spot in the season-ending tourney at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The win should prove to be the biggest among Kia’s five in 11 games as it tied its victim and Talk N Text at seventh to ninth spot.
Barangay Ginebra could join the logjam should it prevail over NLEX later in the evening. Otherwise, Kia is in and would join early qualifiers Alaska, San Miguel Beer, Rain or Shine, GlobalPort, Star, Barako Bull and Meralco in the next round.
The placing carries with it a twice-to-win handicap against top-ranked Alaska, but Kia is happy just to keep its hopes alive.
“Kung loloobin ng Panginoon na makapasok tayo sa second round mas maganda,” said injured playing-coach Manny Pacuiao, who showed up in a game for the first time since May 13 and clearly gave his players the inspiration they needed.
Whatever happens, the number of victories is still Kia’s best, marking the second straight conference it improved on its 1-10 debut in the Philippine Cup. It finished with a 4-7 slate in the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup.
More important, Kia’s steady improvement would be used for future battles.
“Marami kaming natutunan. Dagdag experience sa mga players,” quipped Pacquiao.
The loss hardly mattered for Meralco as its higher quotient has already assured it of a quarterfinals berth. But it was hoping for a win that would have given sister team Talk ‘N Text a trouble-free ride to the next round and taken both Kia and Barangay Ginebra out of the race.
Also quashed was the momentum Meralco head coach Norman Black wanted going to the playoffs.
Now, the Bolts wound up seventh instead of sixth and would be also be handicapped in their upcoming matchup against the Beermen.
Blame it all on a bunch of Kia players acting out the role of spoilers to the hilt.
Hamady N’Diaye finished with 24 points, 19 rebounds and six blocked shots while Karl Dehesa heated up late for all 10 of his points in the seesawing fourth quarter. Joshua Webb even made a clutch triple that pushed the Carnival ahead for good 83-80 after he had missed his first four attempts in the game from the beyond the arc.
Clearly, however, it was Revilla who stepped up the most as he calmly sank all four of the charities awarded him in the last 18.6 seconds that kept Meralco at bay.
The last of those freebies gave Kia the three-point lead that stood when Gary David muffed a desperation trey try at the buzzer, prompting the entire Carnival camp to explode in wild jubilation.
Revilla wound up with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, Mark Yee more than tripled his conference average with 13 points to go with eight boards and Virgil Buensuceso eight points anchored on two triples.
Andre Emmett scored a game-high 35 points with David the only other Meralco player in double figures with 14.
Despite the discrepancy in scoring contribution the Bolts remained in the thick of the fight, with Emmett’s step back jumper tying the count at 80 and Reynel Hugnatan’s baseline jumper and David’s three charities fanning their hopes.
It’s just that Revilla and the rest of Kia would not let this chance slip away. (NC)
The scores:
KIA 88 – N’Diaye 24, Revilla 16, Yee 13, Dehesa 10, Buensuceso 8, Avenido 6, Webb 5, Cawaling 2, Pascual 2, Bagatsing 2, Deutchman 0, Chang 0, Alvarez 0.
MERALCO 85 – Emmett 35, David 14, Hugnatan 9, Atkins 6, Hodge 5, Dillinger 4, Nabong 3, Guevarra 3, Anthony 2, Ildefonso 2, Cortez 2, Ando 0.
Quarterscores: 22-19, 44-41, 61-63, 88-85
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EDITORS' PICK
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