MERALCO ZAPS MAGNOLIA FOR 2ND STRAIGHT PBA WIN

The Meralco Bolts cruised to their second straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup with a 74-51 rout of the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Sunday, April 28.

Raymond Almazan led the way with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Chris Newsome added 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Bolts.

Chris Banchero chipped in 11 points, while rookie Brandon Bates ended with 10 points for the Bolts, which improved to a 5-5 win-loss slate after securing their second win in three days.

Holding a slim 21-14 lead after the opening quarter, the Bolts held the Hotshots to just seven points in the second quarter as they broke away to a 35-21 lead at the half.

The Bolts pulled away further in the second half as the lead reached its biggest at 25 points at 74-49, courtesy of a three-pointer from Diego Dario late in the game.

No Magnolia players have reached double digits, with Ian Sangalang as the highest pointer with eight points and 10 rebounds.

They dropped to a 5-4 winloss card.

Meanwhile, the San Miguel Beermen moved closer to sweeping the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations after a 120103 beating of the NLEX Road Warriors. The Beermen improved to 9-0, while the Road Warriors dropped to 5-4.

The Beermen set the tone in the opening period behind inside shots from June Mar Fajardo for a 25-15 lead, an advantage that grew to as high as 18 points at 9274 following a basket from Terrence Romeo.

However, the Road Warriors made their last push to cut the deficit to 85-96 with over six minutes left, but the Beermen got conversions from Celedonio Trollano and Jaymar Perez to pull away anew at 100-85.

Perez top-scored for the Beermen with 30 points, Fajardo posted a doubledouble of 20 points and 21 rebounds, Romeo and Jericho Cruz contributed 15 markers apiece, while Trollano and Marcio Lassiter ended with 14 markers apiece./ASC,