Meralco guard Aaron Black soars for a layup against TNT in overtime of their PBA Governors' Cup semifinal game. PBA Images.
MANILA (UPDATED) -- Meralco needed an extra five minutes to eke out a tough 124-117 win in overtime against Talk 'N Text to tie their best-of-five PBA Governors Cup semifinal series on Sunday at Ynares Center in Antipolo.
KJ McDaniels dropped 39 points to go with his 20 rebounds, three blocks, and three steals for the Bolts, who knotted the series, 1-1.
Meralco also got 28 points from Aaron Black and 15 from Cliff Hodge.
The Bolts also got a big boost from Aaron Black who went 12-of-19 from the field to finish with 28 points. He also dished out 10 assists and brought down five rebounds.
Cliff Hodge, who had a scary fall while going for the ball in the payoff period, tallied 15 markers.
Coach Norman Black said they were able to play with more energy compared to Game 1 as they already recovered from a brutal quarterfinal battle against Magnolia.
“I was hoping we come out with a lot of energy today. We had a hard game against Magnolia before we played Game 1 and it showed in the first game,” he said, referring to their blowout Game 1 defeat.
“Offensively Aaron had a good game today, a lot of other guys stepped up and helped out. KJ played much better than in Game 1 it probably really gave up a big lift.”
Now fresher, they were also able to execute their defensive game against TNT.
“Strategy wise, we just wanted to get back on defense something we did poorly in Game 1. If we get back in defense, we could defend them,” he said.
Mikey Williams led the Tropang GIGA in scoring with 29 points, while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson chipped in 27 points together with his 15 rebounds and 9 assists.
The Scores:
MERALCO 124 – McDaniels 39, Black 28, Hodge 15, Maliksi 11, Quinto 11, Banchero 7, Newsome 5, Caram 3, Jose 3, Almazan 2
TNT 117 – M.Williams 29, Hollis-Jefferson 27,Castro 17, Oftana 13, Pogoy 12, Chua 11, Erram 6, Marcelo 2, Khobuntin 0, Varilla 0, Montalbo 0
QUARTERS: 35-30, 59-49, 86-86, 112-112, 124-117
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