BONG Quinto scored the last seven points of Meralco Bolts as they escaped with an 86-83 victory over the Terrafirma Dyip in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Quinto finished with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes of action for coach Luigi Trillo.

Norbert Torres added 15 points and five rebounds while Raymond Almazan contributed 14 points, as the Bolts posted their third win in six outings.

Gilas mainstay Chris Newsome also had a good game with seven points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Stephen Holt and Juami Tiongson combined for 40 points for Terrafima, which dropped to 3-3.

Holt had 20 points, five assists and four rebounds while Tiongson tallied 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Johnedel Cardel-mentored Dyip.

Aldrech Ramos and Javier Gomez De Liano chipped in with 11 points each.

“Hats off to Terrafirma. They’re playing really well and nahirapan talaga kami doon. So they’re an up-and-coming team. We just had to gut it out,” said Trillo jn an interview posted in the official PBA website.

“What we needed to do was to get these guys thinking… na we believe in these guys to make good decisions and not only Bong,” added Trillo.

Meanwhile, San Miguel import Bennie Boatwright is now being eyed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) as the next possible naturalized player for the Gilas Pilipinas men’s team.

The country’s governing body for basketball bared it already initiated talks with the former USC Trojan, who guided the Beermen to the championship of the recent PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

At 27 and having developed a strong connection with the Philippines following his stint with the SMC franchise, the SBP considers Boatwright a solid choice for naturalization.

Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone disclosed about asking Boatwright of the possibility of becoming a naturalized player for the national men’s team as back up to Justin Brownlee.

“I think he’s a tremendous talent. He’s got great size and he can play in and out. He’s very versatile. It kind of reminds me of a young Justin, just like three or four inches taller,” said Cone of the same import which led San Miguel to a three-game sweep of Barangay Ginebra in the semifinals of the import-spiced conference.

The scores:

Meralco (86) – Quinto 18, Torres 15, Almazan 14, Black 7, Mendoza 7, Newsome 7, Banchero 6, Maliksi 6, Hodge 4, Pascual 2, Jose 0, Rios 0
Terrafirma (83) – Tiongson 20, Holt 20, Gomez de Liano 11, Ramos 11, Sangalang 6, Go 4, Camson 4, Carino 4, Cahilig 3, Mina 0, Calvo 0, Alolino 0
Quarterscores: 19-25, 39-46, 63-65, 86-83.

Games Friday:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
4:30 p.m. — TNT vs. NorthPort
7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs. San Miguel