Mitchell Akil Mitchell delivers for Meralco. PBA photo

Meralco in upset win

January 16, 2025 Robert Andaya 163 views
Jack
Kadeem Jack carries fight for North Port. PBA photo

MERALCO Bolts flaunted a torrid shooting game to dominate NorthPort Batang Pier,111-94, in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila.

The 1-2 punch of Akil Mitchell and Chris Banchero combined for 55 points for the coach Luigi Trillo- mentored Bolts, who improved to 6-3 win-loss record and forced a four-way tie in the standings with Hong Kong Eastern, Converge FiberXers, and Barangay Ginebra.

Mitchell finished with a double-double performance of 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the floor, 13 rebounds, five steals and three assists in almost 41 minutes of play.

Chris Banchero added a conference-high of 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting on top of six assists and four rebounds while Chris Newsome contributed 15 points including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

The Bolts also got eight points each from Bong Quinto and Jansen Rios and seven and six points from CJ Cansino and Jolo Mendoza.

Kadeem Jack topscored in the Batang Pier’s losing effort.

Jack tallied 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the floor, 14 rebounds and two steals in 39 minutes of action for NorthPort ofcoach Bonnie Tan.

Arvin Tolentino added 19 points and three rebounds while Joshua Munzon and Will Navarro had 12 and 11 points, respectively, as NorthPort dropped to 7-2.

Munzon also got eight rebounds and six assists.

Meralco coach Luigi Trillo lauded hid players, especially their relievers, for preventing the Batang Pier from gaining any offensive rhythm.

“I think today we played better defensively. This team can really score with top guys like (Joshua) Munzon, (Arvin) Tolentino, (William) Navarro. Their import is also a perfect fit for them,” said Trillo.

“I thought our bench, all around, coming out… even our bigs, Norbert (Torres), Kyle (Pascual), Raymond (Almazan) helping Brandon (Bates). Quality from them coming in,” added Trillo.

The scores :

Meralco (111) — Mitchell 30, Banchero 25, Newsome 15, Quinto 8, Rios 8, Cansino 7, Mendoza 6, Caram 5, Almazan 4, Reyson 2, Pascual 1, Bates 0, Hodge 0, Torres 0.
NorthPort (94) –Jack 29, Tolentino 19, Munzon 12, Navarro 11, Nelle 8, Onwubere 7, Miranda 5, Yu 3, Flores 0, Bulanadi 0, Taha 0, Cuntapay 0, Tratter 0.
Quarterscores: 24-21, 54-44, 82-69, 111-94.

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