Reynel Hugnatan scored 16 points, Aaron Black added 14, and both of them hit clutch baskets late as Meralco stunned San Miguel Beer 78-71 in the quarterfinals of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup on Friday at AUF Sports Arena in Angeles City, Pampanga.

The Beermen, who were missing Alex Cabagnot (hamstring strain), will try to avoid an upset when they face Meralco in the decider on Sunday.

The Bolts were depleted, too, after Raymond Almazan was hurt in a collision with Von Pessumal.

Meralco led by as many as 16 points, but San Miguel rallied to cut the deficit to 71-67 with less than 5 minutes to go.

But Hugnatan hit a keyhole jumper and Black buried a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions by the Bolts to extend their lead to 76-67 inside the last 2 minutes and put the game out of reach.

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"Our guys played with a lot of heart tonight," said Meralco coach Norman Black, who turned 63 on Thursday.

"We played hard, we didn't shoot the ball extremely well tonight, we shot poorly but at the same time our defense held up well."

Even though San Miguel was without Cabagnot, similarly injured June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo, Meralco needed to dig deep to pull off the victory.

"The one thing you have to respect in San Miguel is that they have been great for so long they're very experienced," Black said of the 5-time Philippine Cup champions.

"They are missing key players right now, but they still have key players on the court so you can't really let your guard down when you're playing them. You have to play hard every minute you go into court.