MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Jared Dillinger buried huge back-to-back 3-pointers with 1:42 remaining and the Meralco Bolts leveled the best-of-5 semifinals series at 1-1 with a 92-87 win over the Alaska Aces in the 2016 PBA Commissioner's Cup on Wednesday, April 27 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Dillinger, whose second trey from the left wing stretched the lead to 88-84, scorched with 5-of-10 shooting from deep for 20 points and 3 rebounds off the bench as the Bolts fought their way out of a 14-point ditch early in the fourth.
"I have to give a lot of credit to JD for really opening up the defense by hitting those outside shots," head coach Norman Black commended his wards.
"It’s just a great all-around effort by my players and they showed a lot of ability tonight to come back and win, which is really important in the game of basketball."
Import Arinze Onuaku topscored with 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists. He also collared a crucial offensive rebound off a Dillinger missed 3-point attempt that helped preserve a 5-point lead in the final 13.7 seconds.
"I just felt that Arinze just hung in there," Black said. "He was much more effective offensively today. That was a huge offensive rebound to seal the game."
Chris Newsome tallied 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists as he attacked the basket relentlessly. Reynel Hugnatan added the finishing touches with a basket off a broken play in the last few seconds to come up with 15 markers.
The Aces relied on Rob Dozier for 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks, while Calvin Abueva put up 18 markers, 5 boards, and two steals. Cyrus Baguio was the only other player in double figures with 10 points as Alaska succumbed to a 9-0 run in the fourth that was the turning point which put Meralco on top, 80-79.
"They executed down the stretch and really more than anything, they made the shots down the stretch," Alaska coach Alex Compton acknowledged. "We got a little dribble-happy instead of moving the ball, we're not really a dribble-oriented team. We gotta be better about that."
Game 3 of this series is on Friday, April 29.
Scores:
Meralco (92): Onuaku 22, Dillinger 20, Newsome 19, Hugnatan 15, Hodge 7, Alapag 3, R Buenafe 2, Caram 2, Ferriols 2, Amer 0, Faundo 0.
Alaska (87): Dozier 28, Abueva 18, Baguio 10, Banchero 9, Baclao 5, Dela Cruz 5, Jazul 4, Thoss 4, Hontiveros 2, Menk 2, Eman 0, EXciminiano 0.
Quarter scores: 14-17, 37-44, 61-70, 92-87.
– Rappler.com