Chris Newsome delivered the killer blow in the closing seconds.
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MERALCO provided a classic start in PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup, pulling off a stirring come-from-behind 91-89 win over Converge behind the endgame heroics of ace guard Chris Newsome Friday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
Newsome fired a three-pointer to tie the count at 89-all in the last 59-second mark and buried a tough fadeaway off two defenders with .1 second to go as the Bolts took a steal to open their title defense in the season-ending tourney.
The Bolts trailed by as many as 20 and were still down by six entering the final two minutes of the game, but unleashed an 8-0 closing salvo to disappoint the FiberXers and foil their bid for a winning conference debut.
Bong Quinto fired his own trey to touch off Meralco's endgame tear as the Bolts salvaged the game, giving themselves a winning start in the tourney they won over the San Miguel Beermen last season.
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Newsome finished with 15 points that went with six rebounds, four assists and one steal against two turnovers while Quinto wound up with 14 markers on top of six boards, three dole-outs and one steal against four errors.
Raymond Almazan came through with a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards as Norman Black and Toto Jose chipped in 10 points apiece for the Bolts that continued to play sans gunner Allein Maliksi.
Brandon Bates made his return from an injury, seeing action for seven minutes where he accounted for one steal against one turnover and two personal fouls.
The Bolts crawled back from a 20-point hole and dealt the FiberXers a stinging loss, putting to naught the sterling efforts of Justin Arana, Justine Baltazan, Alec Stockton and Schonny Winston.
The FiberXers set the pace most of the way with Arana, Stockton, Baltazar and Winston piling up at least 13 points each.
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Arana top scored with 23 points while Baltazar tallied 14 markers and 10 rebounds but the team succumbed in going scoreless in the last two minutes of play.
The FiberXers actually enjoyed the lead for 46 minutes but couldn't finish off the tough-fighting crew of coach Luigi Trillo.(SB)
The scores
Meralco 91 - Newsome 15, Quinto 14, Almazan 13, , Black 10, Jose 10, Reyson 8, Caram 6, Rios 5, Torres 3, Hodge 3, Cansino 2, Pascual 2, Bates 0.
Converge 89 - Arana 23, Stockton 17, Baltazar 14, Winston 13, Garcia 6, B. Santos 5, Delos Santos 4, Racal 2, Corpuz 2, Caralipio 2, Nermal 1, Ambohot 0, R. Santos 0, Suerte 0.
Quarterscores: 22-34, 42-44, 63-66, 91-89
