MERALCO is alive and kicking.

The Bolts relied on a balanced scoring attack to pull off a hard-earned 82-76 win over Phoenix Super LPG and stay in contention for a playoff berth in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Aaron Black, Chris Newsome, Chris Banchero and Allein Maliksi came through with double-digit scores as the Bolts overcame a tough stand by the Fuel Masters in a tightly-fought contest and snapped a two-game losing skid.
Overall, the Bolts improved to 4-5 in the standings.

Black finished with 18 points, highlighted by four triples , four rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes of action for Meralco coach Luigi Trillo.

Newsome tallied 15 points, six rebounds and three assists, Banchero added 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals and Maliksi contributed 13 points, including three triples.

“We’re both down in the teams standings right now so every game is important. Both teams’ backs are against the wall and something’s gotta give. You lose one you’re probably out of it already,“ said Trillo in an interview posted in the official PBA website..

“It’s hard to knock out a team like Phoenix with injuries all around. Different team, but you saw they were sharp today in terms of the way they played.. That team has no quit in them,” he added.

At 4-5, Meralco is still inside the magic eight.

Meralco, however, can’t afford to relax, especially with Newsome and Cliff Hodge both leaving the game with knee injuries in the dying seconds of the match.

Both are set to undergo tests Saturday.

Kenneth Tuffin topscored with 14 points for Phoenix, which dropped to 3-7 and 11th place overall.

The Jamike Jarin-mentored Fuel Masters are now hoping they prevail over Blackwater next Saturday and that four wins would be enough to tie for one of the last playoff spots.

Actually, Phoenix rallied from a 64-75 deficit to threaten at 72-75 behind the hits of RR Garcia and Tuffin. They even had the chance to inch closer when Raul Soyud pulled off a steal on Newsome.

But Maliksi stole an inside pass by Garcia and then converted on a layup to make it 77-72.

Javee Mocon countered with his own layup, but Banchero added a pull-up jumper to make it a two-possession game going to the last 22.8 seconds.

Quinto then went 3-of-4 in successive tripes to the charity lane to counter Tuffin’s near-triple for the final score.

The scores:

Meralco (82) – Black 18, Newsome 15, Banchero 14, Maliksi 13, Hodge 6, Caram 6, Bates 4, Almazan 3, Quinto 3, Pasaol 0, Torres 0, Pascual 0.
Phoenix (76) – Tuffin 14, Salado 12, Jazul 9, Rivero 9, Mocon 7, Garcia 6, Perkins 5, Muyang 4, Verano 4, Alejandro 3, Soyud 3, Daves 0, Camacho 0.
Quarterscores: 24-21, 34-38, 60-53, 82-76.