ORANI, Bataan— In an exhilarating Game 1 of the best-of-seven-series of the PBA Philippine Cup finals, the Meralco Bolts oust the defending champion, San Miguel Beermen, 93–86, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on June 5, Wednesday.
In their first-ever appearance in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, the Meralco Bolts unleashed their dominance. They took the first game in the series to gain a 1-0 advantage.
The Bolts became the first team in the conference to beat the top-seeded Beermen with less than 90 points.
The Beermen had the advantage in the match after adjourning the first half of the game with Bolts, 51–44.
But the Bolts turned the tables on Beermen. They prevailed in the third and fourth quarters with enough momentum to defeat the Beermen for the second time in this conference with 21–26 and 14–23, respectively.
Chris Newsome was named as the Player of the Game. His stellar performance led his team to its first victory in the Finals against the Beermen. He finished with 18 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Furthermore, he shot 8 for 17 field goals for the team.
“I mean this team is a championship team, they are a dynasty team, they are capable of doing amazing things. I mean you were all there for the vehicle so you know that you can never count this team out,” he said.
“All I know is that they are going to go back to the drawing board, and they are going to find ways to try to execute much better and to counter everything that we did tonight,” he added.
Moreover, Chris Banchero churned out 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. While Allein Maliksi and Bong Quinto both added 15 points to Meralco’s victory.
Cliff Hodge also had an impressive performance after amassing a total of 15 points on top of 7 points. Brandon Bates recorded four blocks, and Raymond Almada had eight points and seven rebounds.
The Game 2 of the championship round between the San Miguel Beermen and the Meralco Bolts will take place at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on June 7, Friday (7:30 PM).